Cooking With Wine

Wine is a wonderful addition with nearly every meal. There are all kinds of wine enthusiasts who will tell you which wine tastes great with which dish as far as drinking goes, but what about cooking with wine? Which wine should you choose to add flavor to which dish?

A good rule of thumb is never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. Cooking wines are generally salty and may have ingredients that could hinder the flavor of your dish. If you like a Merlot, make that one of your cooking wine choices. We like this idea anyway because you don't have to have one wine for cooking and one or twenty *wink* for drinking. Choosing a good quality- not necessarily expensive, either- wine is your best jumping-off point.

So which wine should you use for which dish? I typically use a color method. If I am making anything with a red sauce, I choose a red wine. Additionally, if I am cooking with a red meat, I also use a red wine. Any cream sauces or white sauces would call for a white wine and chicken, fish, or pork generally call for white wine. I also use sherry with chicken and shell fish at times.