COOKING WITH WINE, YEA OR NAY?

Lots and lots of recipes call for wine.

Lots and lots of people for different reasons shy away from a recipe calling for any kind of alcohol.

I've received a few questions about substitutes so I wanted to share with you what little bit I know.

I have several recipes that call for some sort of wine and I usually just use what is called for but sometimes I don't.

Don't just see  a recipe calls for alcohol and dismiss it, you will be missing a lot of good dishes.

There are some good easy things you can use in the place of the wine.

What if a recipe calls for red wine and you don't want to use  wine, no problem you can use beef broth.

Just replace the wine with equal amounts of beef broth, yes it will give a slight flavor change but not much and the broth will add a richness.

You can also use red grape juice, the grape juice is a little sweeter than the wine would be so add a splash of vinegar to off set the sweet.

Now for white wine substitutes.

Just like you can use beef broth for red wine, you can use chicken broth for white wine.

If the recipe calls for one cup of white wine, you can use one cup of chicken broth instead

Apple juice is a good replacement for white wine.

It's sweeter than than the wine so again a splash of vinegar will cut the sweetness but give you the wonderful flavor you are looking for.

White grape juice is another one, the same is true for it, it's going to be sweeter, so you will need a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to cut the sweet.

Ginger Ale works too....how ever much white wine is called for, just use that much ginger ale instead.

Or you can always  use plain water to replace wine.

It won't add any flavor and might give you a slight flavor change but it will keep your liquid content like it needs to be.

Remember to allow the alcohol to cook out of the dish, you can't rush it. You are looking for flavor, not alcohol.

Don't use more wine than is called for because it can quickly overpower your dish.

I hope this helps and again, don't just skim through the ingredients, see the word wine and forget the whole thing.

There are many ways to enjoy all these great recipes and I don't want you to miss out.