Alot of people ask me if cooking with wine is OK for the LDS cook. We often hear how the alcohol "burns" off during the cooking process. I wanted to make sure that was true. There is no substiture for "Marsala or Sherry" in chicken Marsala. The flavor profile you get is un-paralelled. Here is what I found.
James Peterson, a cookbook writer who studied chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, stated in his encyclopedic cookbook called Sauces:
Question:
When you use alcohol in cooking a dish, how long does it take for alcohol to burn off? Is the time the same for all forms of alcohol? - Jim S (4/1/05)
Answer
You need to cook a sauce for at least 20 to 30 seconds after adding wine to it to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Since alcohol evaporates at 172°F (78°C), any sauce or stew that is simmering or boiling is certainly hot enough to evaporate the alcohol.
Be careful if you are using alcohol in something cold like a Sorbet. The alcohol content stay's at 100%. Companies like Jack Daniels put their whiskey is all sorts of things, like BBQ sauce, Potato Chips, even Mustard! They do this by cooking off the alcohol first, then cooling the product before bottling. Nice thing about cooking with a wine is that it also tenderizes the meat as well. Plus the gravy you can make from a chicken or steak marsala reduction is quite frankly heavenly. Anyone interested in some recipes like this please comment below. Craig
Craig!!
ReplyDeleteI would love some receipes on that! Any suggestions on buying the alcohol and not dying a million deaths of emberrassement? HaHa!!
I really love all your receipes, you make them see so easy and Heavenly!! Thanks for sharing!!
ps. Love your blog and am sharing it with my girls. Look forward to all you have to share!!!