Always Cook With Wine
I'll begin by telling you, everything tastes better with wine. If umami had a twin it would be wine, and by cooking with it, enhances 3 of the 5 basic food flavors (sweet, sour, bitter) all in the same ingredient. If umami can encompass many different flavors, so can wine. I always use umami flavors in each dish that I make, so why not always use wine? I'm here to explain why you should always should cook with wine. From seared rib-eye steak with pan jus to pasta bolognese, these are some of the many classics. Have you ever tried savory bread pudding with gruyere cheese and wild mushrooms or salmon cakes and beurre blanc? Mouth is watering! Here's the first tip from DLM about how our wines will work best with all foods you cook.
Tip #1: I'll start with the basics. When you have decided on a recipe, know its general color. For example, when I think of bread pudding, what color is my bread? Is it white, tan, or dark brown? If it is tan, perhaps I want to cook with a DLM Chardonnay or Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. These wines are in the middle of the color spectrum; depending upon your wine storage and general preference it could be an easy choice on which one to decide. Now let's take it a bit further. What if I were making a savory "tan" bread pudding with roasted squash and caramelized onion? I would choose the Chardonnay over the Pinot Noir. If I were making a savory "tan" bread pudding with kale and wild mushrooms, the Pinot Noir wins. And so, think about your general overall food color, then narrow it down to the wine that matches best. Now on to the second tip: flavor.
Tip #2: What's the flavor? Crisp, light, fresh? How about earthy, wooded, and rich? Wait, am I talking about wine or food? Both. If your food embodies flavors familiar to the wine, go ahead and cook with the wine that matches. And no, I'm not talking about a food and wine pairing (although I could be), I'm talking about cooking with it. If you're making food that is spicy and fruity like an eggplant Parmesan, use DLM Zinfandel. Or if you are making a seared halibut, go ahead and add DLM Gewurztraimer and some fennel too. Flavors in the wine is flavors in the food and it enhances them. And now for the last tip of cooking with wine, and it's a tip your mom didn't teach you.
Tip #3: Always reduce the wine to almost dry. I was close to writing, "you drink it too!" but I decided to give you another factual tip: deglaze and reduce. After sautéing your aromatics, deglaze with wine and reduce until it's almost dry (about 1/4 cup liquid). If you want the food "wine-y" then add more wine. But for most recipes, reduce until almost dry. This will allow for complex flavors of sweet, sour, and bitter to develop. And then, drink as you may. Now I'm ready for a glass of wine!