Alex Guarnaschelli knows a thing or two about good food. The Iron Chef Food Network star and cookbook author knows her way around the kitchen and she’s got some great advice for home cooks looking to improve their sautéing and roasting skills. But it turns out Guarnaschelli’s advice also applies to wine. In an interview with Food & Wine the chef shared her thoughts on wine as both a beverage and an essential ingredient in cooking.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 Talks at Google | 2013-07-25 16:25:56 |  22,629 Views |
Old-school comfort food: the way I learned to cook | Alex Guarnaschelli | Lectures at Google
According to Guarnaschelli the worst mistake a home cook (or any cook) can make is not cooking off the alcohol in your wine before adding other liquids to your dish. For example if you're adding wine to a sauce or roast you should add it to your aromatics in the pan and let the alcohol cook off completely before adding any stock or tomato sauce. Guarnaschelli notes that if you don't cook your wine completely "you're going to have that uncooked wine flavor." This can leave your dish with an unpleasant slightly bitter flavor that can disrupt the flavor profile of whatever you're cooking and that's not good. Of course that's just the beginning of Guarnaschelli's wine knowledge and there are a few other things to keep in mind when cooking with wine.
Of course overcooking your wine isn’t the only misstep Alex Guarnaschelli warns against. First you should be careful when deciding which wine to add to your dish. You might be tempted to use an expensive bottle when cooking—after all you only want to add the best flavors to your dish. However this might not be the best choice. When cooking with wine Guarnaschelli notes “so many of the most subtle flavors evaporate.” So adding a complex and expensive wine to your pot roast or chicken marsala might be a futile endeavor. For more expensive wines it’s probably best to pour it into a glass to sip rather than into a pot to stir.
Another common mistake when cooking with wine is adding too much wine. Too much wine can be overwhelming in a dish throwing off the balance and creating an overly acidic wine flavor. Remember you’re looking for balance in all of the ingredients not just focusing on one. To correct this mistake Guarnaschelli suggests adding a fat like butter or olive oil which can affect the wine. She also suggests adding pureed onions or apples (for desserts) to “mellow out the wine flavor.” These tips can help you cook with wine without fear. After all cooking is a balancing act and mistakes can almost always be avoided.
