Replacing wine with a vinaigrette?

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Rebam98

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
31
Hi-
I have a recipe that calls for wine and it says I can replace it with a "viniagrette" if I want to. I don't really feel like buying a good bottle of wine, just to dump it down the sink. But I'm confused by what they mean about "viniagrette." "Vinagriattes", to me, come in a variety of flavors and there is no one "viniagrette." I think it would be quite odd to put a salad dressing vinaigrette in my recipe. The recipe calls for frying some chicken/garlic then putting it in chicken broth and the wine along with some spices then baking it.
Can someone clarify for me what a good vinaigrette would be to use with this? Or maybe some general suggestions for cooking with wine: what kind of wine to use, if the "cooking wines" you see at the store are any good, or what a good substitute would be? I would like to find something that is good to use and can be either stored for later use or used up in some other way, for instance if I bought apple juice, I could at least put it in the refrigerator and drink it.

Sorry if I put this in the wrong forum.
 
Well, first of all, you wouldn't have to buy a bottle of "nice" wine. An average, but drinkable bottle will do.

Second, you don't have to dump the rest of it. Wine freezes nicely.

Vermouth is a good substitute for white wine and lasts for a long time after opening.

"Vinaigrette" is a sauce or salad dressing made from vinegar and oil. Your recipe is probably referring to using wine vinegar as a substitute for wine.

IMO wine vinegar is not a good sub for wine, really. It doesn't taste much like wine and adds extra acidity. Neither is juice, IMO, as that doesn't taste like wine and adds sweetness.

"Cooking wine" in the store is cheap, terrible stuff with lots of salt added. Avoid it.

My suggestions would be to:

1. Buy a bottle of wine. Use what you need and freeze the rest for future use.
2. See if you can buy a single-size bottle of wine like served on airplanes. Many store sell these.
3. Buy a bottle of dry white vermouth and use that.
4. Just skip the wine and add a bit more broth. Or add a very small amount of wine vinegar and more broth.
 
Right on the money!

Freeze the wine in an ice cube tray then transfer the frozen cubes to a plastic bag. Then you can take out just what you need for a recipe.
 
Have to agree with everything said above. I found out that I do not like taste of dry wine, nor food that had been cooked in dry wine. So, I buy some very light, very sweet wine in the local store. Because I get the whole box guy gives me huge discount $5-$6 dollars per bottle. The box last me up to 6 month or so. The wine is so sweet and so light that even my kids like it. Some times, when I have leftovers I let them have some.
 
The grand diva of cooking, Julia Child, has said in many of her cookbooks, as well as her TV shows, that it's best to always keep a bottle of dry vermouth in the pantry. It doesn't require refrigeration, & she claims that even the worst dry vermouth is better than many cheap white wines.
 
I keep dry vermouth, fino and amontillado sherries - as well as rice wine in my cabinet - mostly for cooking, although I will occasionally have a glass of fino sherry. My favourite aperitif at the moment is white port... YUMMY!
 
I keep Dry vermouth and dry sherry in the cabinet for cooking. Also, we always have a botle of red and a bottle of white open and available in our house.
 
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