For The Holidays: Great Meals to Cook with Wine

The holidays are just right around the corner, and it’s time once again for sumptuous feasts. This year, why not consider levelling up your spread by preparing meals with wine? That’s right; wine can be a great way to enhance your dish. However, when you choose a recipe with wine as an ingredient, remember that quality matter more than quantity.

A great tip to keep in mind is, if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t use it in your recipe. That is because low-quality wine has a high salt content. This factor can actually ruin your dish if you decide to incorporate low quality wine into it. But, there’s also no need to spend too much on a bottle. Check your local wine store for affordable yet high-quality options.

3 Great recipes to cook with wine

Here are some ideas for meals to cook with wine.

For The Holidays: Great Meals to Cook with Wine - the holidays

1. Steamed Mussels with Wine, Garlic, and Parsley

Having friends over for a dinner party? Looking for a simple recipe that can wow your guests? Look no further than this recipe for steamed mussels. This recipe is so easy to do, you just basically have to cook some spices until fragrant, add the mussels, add a cup of dry white wine and wait for the mussels to cook. It’s a simple and easy recipe, but the flavours are elevated because of the dry white wine. Make sure to use the freshest mussels from your local market and a good bottle of dry white wine for the perfect marriage of flavours.

For The Holidays: Great Meals to Cook with Wine - the holidays

2. Risotto

Risotto is a classic Italian dish that deserves a spot on your holiday spread. It’s creamy, cheesy, and bursting with umami from the mushroom. Who wouldn’t want to savour a dish like that? To make it even more flavourful, consider adding ½ a cup of Pinot Gris. It’s the perfect dry white wine for this recipe. To make risotto, just follow the recipe’s basic steps below:

  1. Prepare your stock.
  2. Cook your mushrooms and set aside.
  3. Cook your shallots in a different pan and add the Arborio rice. Make sure to stir until every grain is slick.
  4. Pour the Pinot Gris and let the rice fully absorb the wine.
  5. Ladle your stock until the rice is fully cooked.
  6. Finally, add the cooked mushrooms and cheese.

For The Holidays: Great Meals to Cook with Wine - the holidays

3. Coq au Vin

If you want to use red wine, the perfect recipe to consider is Coq au Vin. This is a classic French dish that makes use of red wine, half a bottle for that matter. It has vegetables and a source of protein (chicken) which also makes it a well-rounded dish. Here is a quick rundown of the steps to cook Coq au Vin:

  1. Brown your chicken
  2. Cook your spices and bacon in a pan until soft.
  3. Cook the chicken, stock and wine on low heat for 35 minutes. Make sure to put a lid on it.
  4. Lastly, add the mushrooms and allow the dish to cook gently for 15 to 20 minutes.

For The Holidays: Great Meals to Cook with Wine - the holidays

Consider wine bottles as gifts for the holidays, visit Wine Design today!

If you know of a friend or loved one who likes to cook, consider gifting them with a bottle of wine for the holidays. They can go ahead and drink it, but you are also giving them the option to cook with it. The recipes shared above are just some of the recipes that make use of wine. A lot more are available out there and you can even choose a recipe based on the wine you’d want to use.

Do you want to level-up your gift? Reach out to Wine Design for a personalised bottle of wine. You can add any customised labelling to add a more personal touch to your gift. Wine Design is the industry expert when it comes to creating personalised wine labels. Contact us today at 1300 798 098, so we can answer any of your questions.

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