Wine: The Secret Ingredient for These 7 Recipes

If you have leftover wine from Valentine’s Day, don’t toss it just yet. Regardless of if you drink red or white wine, wine is actually the perfect ingredient to spruce up many recipes.

Cooking with wine can draw out new and exciting flavors in your meal that can be harder to achieve without the imbibe. Plus, there’s just something about throwing a splash of wine in your pan that makes it feel like you’re a fancy personal chef in your own household.

Here are seven ways to use up the wine you currently have without waking up with an unpleasant hangover the next day.

Red wine short ribs

Ever since I purchased a Dutch oven, this has been one of my personal favorite ways to use wine in recipes. Adding beef broth, red wine and your favorite spices and herbs to lightly pan-seared short ribs makes for a delicious dinner and an even better smelling home after it cooks for hours in your oven. Although I’ve used variations of multiple recipes when preparing this meal, this has been one of my favorites.

White wine sauce

White wine traditionally pairs nicely with lighter foods such as chicken and fish, so a white wine sauce goes especially well with those meats. You could also use this white wine sauce without the protein in order to make a vegetarian dish that still boasts plenty of flavor.

Red wine pot roast

This is another simple and delicious recipe that uses many of the same ingredients as the short ribs above, but can often be much cheaper to prepare due to the cut of meat used. It’s also perfect for holiday gatherings since it can serve numerous people. In fact, last year on Thanksgiving, I prepared it instead of a turkey, and I’m happy to report that it was a delicious hit.

White bean soup

As temperatures continue to dip this winter, soup season comes to the rescue, and wine will help elevate this white bean soup to the next level. You can also use white wine in chicken soup and potato soup. However, you use slightly less wine in these dishes than the beef ones above.

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Italian wine biscuits

These Italian wine biscuits are similar to biscotti and would be extra delicious when paired with coffee or tea. The short cooking process means the alcohol in the wine won’t be cooked off, so no matter how much your child may want to try these, they are not kid-friendly.

Red wine truffles

Chocolate truffles are always a crowd pleaser, and especially so when you add red wine to them. But similarly to the recipe above — and below — the majority of the alcohol content will remain in these delicacies, so serve them to adults only.

White wine pound cake

This pound cake can be made with cheap white wine and still taste great, according to the recipe, which makes it the perfect way to use up white wine you have on hand that may not be your favorite. It pairs nicely with fruit or ice cream and tastes especially delicious the next day.

FAQ

• Does the alcohol cook off when you cook with wine?
  Not fully, and it depends on how long you cook the meal. According to the US Department of Agriculture, and shared by Idaho State University, when a meal is cooked for two and a half hours, it will retain only 5% of the alcohol content. However, when cooked for only 15 minutes at a boil, it will retain 40% of the alcohol. Other dishes, such as the truffles and wine biscuits above, may retain even more of the alcohol.

• What type of wine is best to cook with?
  It depends on what you’re cooking. For the short ribs and truffles, a dry red wine will work best while any type of white wine works for the white wine sauce and pound cake. Each recipe will also specify whether a certain type of wine will work better than others, but a good rule of thumb is to stick to a wine that you also like to drink.