alcohol in cooking

pavlovs_dog · 29 March 2006 at 11:49AM

when using alcohol in cooking, are there any brands you favour, do you use what is already in the house, or go for the cheapest you can get.

am currently deliberating between doing a beef in beer or highland casserole, and was wondering what the best beer for cooking would be?

squeaky · 29 March 2006 at 12:11PM

Any good beer works just fine - but for best results with beef I prefer to use a stout such as Guinness.

As for wine, when you wnat to cook with it, my basic rule of thumb is "If it isn't worth drinking it isn't worth cooking with."

Heth_2 · 29 March 2006 at 12:23PM

I use cheap wine in cooking, unless its just a splash out of the bottle we are having that evening. I have never had any problems cooking with wine that I wouldn't drink, and red especially is great in cassseroles. When I do mulled wine I don't use wine that I would drink by itself, I just get the cheapest I can find, and as long as you mull it properly it makes no difference to the end result. Casseroles are the same.

thriftlady_2 · 29 March 2006 at 1:03PM

I agree with Heth,I don't subscribe to the idea that you should only cook with wine you'd be prepared to drink at all.I use those little cans of cheap red and white wine for cooking,I always have one of each on hand.

If I just need a splash of white wine I use Vermouth,because you don't need to use it up once opened.I also use fino sherry a lot.I sometimes cook with beer,I ususally go for stout of some kind.

I

pavlovs_dog · 29 March 2006 at 1:04PM

well its currently highland casserole, but i may buy some guiness or similar when in town, so long as i can convince OH to drink the putrid remains

(i hate guinness!)

comping_cat · 29 March 2006 at 1:06PM

Im with Squeaky, if its not good enough to drink, i dont use it!!!! I often freeze wine, if i have any left in an ice cube tray, so that i have some for my cooking, just a shame i dont have much left very often!!!!

pavlovs_dog · 29 March 2006 at 1:16PM

we're not really wine drinkers, so any wine that is knocking around the place is fair game, be if for drinking or for cooking with :beer:

Lydia_2 · 29 March 2006 at 1:25PM

I use whatever wine there is in the house, but then I wouldn't have bought wine if I didn't plan on drinking it. IMO the only problems would be if you were using a very sweet wine in a savoury dish or if the dish requires a specific wine such as chicken chausser, even then I often substitute with something cheaper as long as its white.

Pavlovs dog, out of interest, what is highland casserole?

pavlovs_dog · 29 March 2006 at 1:42PM

Lydia wrote:

Pavlovs dog, out of interest, what is highland casserole?

its a recipe from MIL2Bs St Michael (marks and spencer's) "casserole cooking" book by Myra Street. there are some really nice recipes in it, and we can tell which ones have been tried and tested by the variety of stains etc on the page

:rotfl:

highland casserole recipe

450g braising steak, trimmed and cubed
2 onions, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
50g pearl barley
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
450ml stock
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper

heat oil in pan and brown the meat (at the fron tof the book it recommends dipping the meat in flour before frying to help thinken the gravy later on ). lower heat, add the vegetables and cook for about 3 mins. transfer to a casserole and add remaining ingedients. cover and cook for 1 and a half hours @ 180C / 350f/ gas 4

taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. remove the bay leaves, garnish with parsley and serve.

we had it on sunday, as we had guests for dinner, and it was nice and easy to prepare then leave to its own devices.

i managed to pick up 2 casserole veg packs reduced to clear in asdas last night, got over £2 worth of veg for 82p! so i thought i'd have a crack at making casserole, as i've only ever made soup before.

i havent followed the recipe exactly - i have no turnip, but do have potato, swede and carrot (and may be adding guinness

) so it's a variation on a theme we'll be having tonight, but it smells divine. OH is drooling at the mouth, because i also have a stewed apple cake in the oven which smells lovely - cant wait to try that either

Lydia_2 · 29 March 2006 at 1:50PM

Thanks for the recipe Pavlovs dog, it sounds yummy. :cheesy:

pavlovs_dog · 29 March 2006 at 2:03PM

you're welcome!

it goes lovely with potatoes of some shape or form (we're going to use up left over roasties tonight), and most veg, but especially greens. oh, and crusty bread for mopping up the gravy

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alcohol in cooking

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