Rochester Area Home Winemakers
Cooking With Wine
Side Dishes
VEGETABLES
Harvest Salad with Wine Dressing
Take advantage of apple harvest season with this delicious tossed salad.
6 cups mixed lettuce, washed, dried, torn into bite size pieces
2 apples, cored, sliced thin
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts or pecans
2 oz. cheddar cheese, in ½″ cubes
3 tbsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. dry red wine (if a sweet wine is used, reduce or eliminate sugar)
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup olive oil
On four 8″ plates, layer lettuce, apple slices, nuts and cheese. In a small bowl, stir together vinegar, wine, sugar and basil until sugar is dissolved. Stir in oil. Ladle dressing over salads.
Makes 4 servings.
Marinated Mushrooms
Serve this side dish next to grilled steak, or add it to an antipasto tray. Adapted from my mom’s recipe.
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
2/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth
1/2 cup vegetable oil
12 oz. small white mushrooms
In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, water, sugar and seasonings to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in wine, oil and mushrooms. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Serve cold or room temperature. Makes 4-6 servings.
Hint: If a lot of the marinade is left over once the mushrooms are gone, you can make another batch by adding more mushrooms and refrigerating overnight.
German Potato Salad
German potato salad is based on vinegar instead of mayonnaise and is served warm. This recipe makes enough for a party. Adapted from a recipe attributed to Buffalo Bill’s Family Restaurant and Tap Room in Shortsville, NY.
12 large russet potatoes
1 lb. bacon
1/2 cup canola oil
6 stalks celery, diced fine
1 large onion, diced fine
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. mustard
1 tbsp. celery seed
salt, to taste
Boil potatoes whole in an 8-quart stockpot until soft, 20-30 minutes; drain. Meanwhile, brown bacon in a deep skillet until crispy. Lift bacon out of pan with tongs and set aside to cool. Add canola oil to bacon fat in pan; heat. Add celery and onion; cook until soft.
Crumble bacon into bits. Add bacon, vinegar, wine, sugar, mustard, celery seed and salt to the celery mixture. Simmer 15 minutes. Meanwhile, when potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel (skins should come off without needing a knife), cut into bite size pieces and place in a very large bowl.
Pour dressing mixture over the potatoes and toss gently until well mixed.
Best served hot, though it’s good cold too. Makes 20 servings.
French Potato Salad
This authentic French side dish is also known as Pommes de Terre a l’Huile. Adapted from The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child, pages 14-16.
For vinaigrette:
2 tbsp. wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 tbsp. olive oil or salad oil
For potato salad:
8-10 small boiling potatoes (about 2 lbs.)
2 tbsp. dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 tbsp. chicken stock
2 tbsp. minced shallots or scallions (green onions)
3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Make vinaigrette by stirring together in a small bowl the vinegar, dry mustard, tarragon, salt and pepper. Add oil and beat until blended.
Boil potatoes in their jackets until just tender; drain. Peel and slice while still warm. Toss gently in a large mixing bowl with the wine and chicken stock. Let sit a few minutes for potatoes to absorb the liquid, then toss again. Add vinaigrette, shallots or scallions, and parsley. Toss again.
Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 servings.
Carrots in Champagne and Dill
It sounds quite decadent to cook with Champagne but any dry white wine, sparkling or still, can be substituted. Adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, by Jeff Smith.
1 lb. carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. dried dill weed
Combine carrots and wine in a 2-quart sauce pan on medium-high heat; cover and cook until almost tender. Remove cover and cook until liquid is almost all boiled away. Stir in butter and dill; cook another two minutes or until butter is completely melted; stir again.
Makes 4 servings.
Red Cabbage and Apples with Wine
A traditional Dutch recipe gets updated with the addition of red wine. Serve this next to pork chops or sausages. Adapted from an elderly Dutch friend’s recipe and Betty Crocker’s New International Cookbook.
2 red apples, cored and thinly sliced
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 medium head red cabbage, coarsely shredded (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup red wine, dry or sweet
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. black pepper
salt, to taste
In a 4-quart Dutch oven, cook the apples in the butter over medium heat for 5 minutes so that the apples are partially cooked. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender, 35-40 minutes.
Serves 6.
FRUIT
Curried Fruit
This interesting mix of spicy and sweet makes a great side dish, or use as a sauce for pork or ham. Adapted from www.pallensmith.com and The Southern Living Cookbook.
1/2 cup white wine, dry or sweet
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
2 15-oz. cans fruit (fruit cocktail, peaches, pears or pineapple chunks), drained
In a 3-quart saucepan on Medium/Low, combine wine, butter and brown sugar, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Add spices and stir. Heat until a syrup is formed. Add fruit and heat till bubbling, stirring often.
Serve warm as a side dish, or as a topping for roast pork or ham.
Makes 8 servings.
Variation: Substitute fresh fruit (2 cups peeled and diced pears, peaches, apple, or pineapple) for canned. Heat an additional 10 minutes, or until fruit is tender.
Cranberry Sauce With Wine
Take advantage of the brief season that cranberries are available to make your own sauce. This one combines tart cranberries with sweeter berries and spiced wine, making a unique sauce that can be served warm or cold. Adapted from April 2011 Community Health magazine, Finger Lakes edition.
12 oz. cranberries, fresh or frozen
10 oz. fresh or frozen strawberries, raspberries or blackberries
1 cup dry red wine
1/3 cup sugar (1 cup if using blackberries)
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
zest (finely grated rind) of one orange
Place all ingredients except orange zest in a 2- or 3-quart covered saucepan on Medium-High. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to Low and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, until cranberries are popped. (Make sure you cover the pan or you will redecorate your kitchen in red polka dots.)
Stir in the orange zest. Check taste and add more sugar if needed, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Serve warm or cold as a side dish, a sauce for meat, or a topping for ice cream.
BREADS
Bleu Cheese and Red Wine Bread
Bake up a rich but light bread for dinner using your automatic bread maker. Adapted from Electric Bread by Suzan Nightingale.
2/3 cup water
2 tsp. butter
2 tbsp. red wine, dry or sweet
1/4 cup crumbled bleu cheese
1 tbsp. applesauce
2 cups white bread flour
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 coarsely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 tsp. yeast for bread makers
Add the ingredients to the bread maker in the order specified in the instructions that came with your machine. Choose the Basic White cycle and the Light setting. The dough will not appear as stiff as most bread dough, and will rise more than most.
Serve with Wine Jelly.
CONDIMENTS
Wine Jelly
Wine jelly is an elegant addition to a brunch, luncheon or company dinner menu. Adapted from brands.kraftfoods.com.
3 cups wine*
1 box SURE JELL pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (to reduce foaming)
4 cups sugar, measured into a separate bowl
Measure wine into a 6- or 8-quart stockpot. Stir in pectin, then add butter. Heat on High, stirring constantly, until mixture is at a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred).
Stir in sugar. Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.
Fill sterilized jelly jars while hot and process as usual for jam. If you don’t know how to process jam, place mixture into freezer-safe containers leaving a ½” space at the top, cool, cover tightly, label and freeze. Keep refrigerated when thawed.
Makes (6) 6-oz. jelly jars.
* Original recipe called for Zinfandel, but we cleaned out our refrigerator and used a mix of Apple, Niagara and Traminette wines, all dry. Another time we mixed Niagara, Lilac and Rose Petal, the last two semi-sweet. Most any wine can be used, but don’t use all dessert or ice wine because too much extra sugar may interfere with the gelling process. The color will turn out pale pink or pale peach depending on wine used.
Quick Wine Pickles
You don’t need canning skills to make refrigerator pickles. Use these on an antipasto tray or in tossed salad, or chop and add to potato salad or pasta salad. Adapted from August 2009 Food & Wine magazine, and Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker.
8 cups of vegetables, in any combination:
cucumbers, cut lengthwise into spears, or thinly sliced
broccoli florets, fresh, or frozen and thawed
cherry tomatoes, halved
cauliflower florets, fresh or frozen, partially cooked1
whole green beans, fresh or frozen, partially cooked1
carrot sticks, partially cooked1
asparagus, partially cooked1
3 tbsp. salt2
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. dried, crushed tarragon
1 ¼ cups white vinegar3
1 ½ cups dry white wine
¼ cup chopped onion
1 cup water
Prepare vegetables and set aside to cool.
Make the brine by combining salt, sugar, celery seed, tarragon, vinegar, wine and onion in a large bowl; stir. Let sit about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until salt and sugar are dissolved.
Pack vegetables into two 1-quart jars or four 1-pint jars. Vegetables should completely fill each jar or else they will float and not be submerged in the brine.
Add 1 cup water to brine. Pour the brine over vegetables in jars. Add more water if necessary to completely submerge vegetables in liquid. Attach lids to jars and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Keep refrigerated, for up to one month.
1Microwave 2 cups of vegetables in a covered dish with a small amount of water (or add to a pot of boiling water) for 1-2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Let cool. To cool faster, place in a colander and rinse with cold water.
2Use either regular, kosher or pickling salt. A 10% brine is necessary to preserve food safely, so do not reduce amount of salt unless pickles will be consumed within a week. If taste is too salty, add more sugar to balance.
3 Acidity is needed for food safety, so do not reduce amount of vinegar unless pickles will be consumed within a week. If too tart, add more sugar.
Makes 2 quarts.