…… which wine

[Murt]

I know nothing about wine
I was wanting to keep some wine in the kitchen for cooking purposes
I read about dry this and sweet that but it did not help me
I was thinking that I would likely need a bottle of red and one of white but have no idea what to get
So if you wanted to keep some wine in the kitchen for cooking what would you get
TIA

 

[summerthyme]

First... "dry" means very little sugar in the wine. "Sweet", of course, is the opposite, although if you're not a wine drinker, you'll wonder what they're talking about... they aren't exactly "sweet" in the commonly accepted sense. "Dessert" wines, like an "ice wine", can be almost syrupy sweet... not what you want for cooking!

A dry sherry is one of the most common wines called for in recipes. In general, follow what the recipe calls for...

Basic rule of thumb has been that red wines go with beef and red meat, while white wines are better with chicken and fish. (this is for drinking)... same rules, unless the recipe calls for something different, should work as well.

Do not bother with "cooking wine" from the grocery store, unless you're desperate... they contain added salt, and are generally just poor quality all the way around.

Also... if you go to a decent liquor store where they know their product, ask them! Most will be more than happy to tell you about the differences, and will accomodate your price point, as well. If you aren't planning on cooking with wine often, you might want to look into one of the little vacuum sealer corks that are sold, because wine goes stale FAST, and oxygen makes it "turn" really quick. Of course, you can always cook with what you need from the bottle, and drink the rest with dinner!

Summerthyme

 

[Melodi]

I have noticed for cooking that while you don't want to use "cooking wine" just inexpensive "red", "white" and "pink" (Rose) work pretty well - in the US I used to keep a box of each around to cook with; here in Ireland it is way too expensive for what it is so we don't bother as much or buy small bottles at Lidles.

The really sweet wines (and sweet sherry) can be useful for some oriental cooking or with pork and chicken when you WANT a sweet taste; but most of the time this isn't what you want in soups, stews or roasts (especially not beef in American/Irish/UK cooking anyway).

There are unexpected and happy accidents; the very best lamb I EVER made was when I realized as I was leaving for work that I had week old cubes of butcher's lamb in the fridge that I had no time to bag up to freeze and would likely be off by the time I got home if something wasn't done. My then boyfriend offered a bottle of Cherry Mad Dog 20/20 that someone had given him (and he didn't really want anyway) so since that is what there was, we dumped it into the bowl of lamb cubes and I went to work (he went to bed, he worked nights and didn't cook).

Anyway, I came home lightly floured it and stir fried it and served it with some rice and vegetables; everyone in the extended household thought it was fantastic and so did I. I have since noticed "cherry lamb" in Mongolian/Chinese restaurants but it is rare and I didn't remember seeing it before.

Another great use for wine (especially red wine) is in both marinades for cooking/grill and for soaking meat in (especially beef) for 24 to 48 hours before making jerky (usually I add a few other things like soy sauce but you don't have to).

The great thing is that if cooked for more than about 5 minutes, all the alcohol burns off in the cooking process; sometimes you have to be careful with things that have short cooking times (like adding cherry liquor to fondue) but for the most part it goes totally away and just leaves the flavor behind.