Jan. 25, 2012 - Issue #849: Blind Date

Grapely creative

What to do with leftover wine

Although I rarely have leftover wine, the problem does afflict some. You know the problem: wines that are past their two- or three-day prime, don't quite smell as fresh, or have been sitting on the counter so long you forget when you opened them.
As soon as you open a bottle, oxygen goes to work on the juice. A little bit improves the wine, but a whole bunch will create a vapid mess. If the wine's been exposed to air longer than three days and less than say, a week, you have options: marinate, make sauces or create vinegar. When marinating, the wine's acidity tenderizes meat and fish flesh, but also adds flavour. A combination of oil and wine creates an effective mechanism to penetrate a particularly fibrous cut of beef, like London broil, flank or skirt steak. The marinade can be left in contact with the meat for several hours or overnight, depending on your time frame. However, fish and shellfish, when left in contact too long with a wine marinade (white wine only please — purple shrimp looks kinda funny), can actually become tougher, so leave it in contact two hours or less.
A red or white wine sauce can be heaven. Best when added to the saucepan or sauté pan after cooking and removing the meat, the wine adds tremendous flavour and complexity to a sauce. Try sautéing onions and garlic in some olive oil, add some wine, and let it boil out until it's achieved a sticky, unctuous consistency. Add this to vinaigrettes for salads to intensify their flavour.
Like homebrews, homemade vinegar can be seen skulking in garages across the country, birthed from a bubbling, fermenting goo called a "Mother." Although I've never made it, I scoured the Internet and got some reasonably trustworthy scoop. Wine often spontaneously makes itself into vinegar after several months with the right airborne yeasts, but if you're looking to produce reliable, stable vinegar, you need to control the situation. Check your local wine-making store for a vinegar crock that resembles a ceramic thermos with a spout at the bottom, and a stock of bacteria that starts the vinegar fermentation process. After two months, you'll have a tart concoction that reportedly tastes better than the bottled stuff. There's good advice at gangofpour.com/diversions/vinegar. Much luck ... and ship me some if it's good. V vueweekly.com comments: powered by Disqus