After ending your dinner party with a bang, you are probably left with bottles of leftover red wines. Now, you are in trouble of looking for a solution on how to use it. Some may immediately think of throwing it away or chugging down everything to get rid of it. However, both actions are not needed when you expand your knowledge and options.
A great bottle of leftover red wine does not need to be wasted. Instead, you can make it useful by using it for your favorite dishes. Read on to know more about the vast food innovations that you can do with your leftover wine. Maybe you’ll be able to use these at your next dinner party.
Wine Facts Fast Check
You may have wondered how long it takes before the wine goes bad after opening it. Owner of LA Wine in Los Angeles, David DeLuca, stated that most wines are still good enough to drink after opening it for 36 hours max. However, some wines can last for about 3-5 days, depending on its type.
The oxidation of red wine typically starts about 24 hours after opening it. After it has been opened, the oxygen exposure the wine receives helps to express its aroma and flavors fully. However, prolonged oxygen exposure can spoil the wine and turn it into vinegar. A spoiled wine will not harm you, but it will turn into a gross drink after some time.
Red Wine as a Sauce
Cooking with wine is not unheard of, and it is, in fact, an age-old technique in culinary that has gained numerous praises for its contribution to the palate. Not to mention, red wine is packed with health benefits, such as antioxidants, which would be an excellent addition to your nutritious meal.
One of the perfect ways to incorporate wine to heighten some dishes’ flavors is the wine reduction sauce. It is a type of sauce perfect for all the oenophiles who don’t want to throw away their leftover wine. The wine reduction sauce is easy, simple, and fast to make.
With a half cup of wine, you can make this sauce for a minimum of two servings. Moreover, the perfect dishes to be drizzled over with this sauce are filet, pork chops, lamb racks, and steaks. You can even use it as a base to braise short ribs! Overall this rich sauce can be accomplished even by the kitchen rookies.
Red Wine as Flavored Butter
Get ready to know your new obsession with the flavored butter! Flavored butter is a refrigerator staple that can be easily turned into a pan sauce. Moreover, incorporating red wine with it is an excellent, flavorful add-on, especially for steaks.
Wine butter makes your meat dishes level up to a whole new level. By using wine butter, your palate will be embraced with the richness and tanginess of red wines. Any red wine can be used for this, for example, a Cote De Nuits wine.
To create this, all you need is a stick of unsalted butter, one bottle of red wine, two tablespoons of sugar or salt, and an herb of your choice. Use your imagination and experiment on additions, like mixing in berries and spices.
Red Wine as Dish Marinade
Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned mixture to add flavors to the dish. The mixture is usually a concoction of acid, oil, herb, and spice, which would help in heightening the flavor and tenderizing the meat.
Leftover red wine works well in marinades, wherein the acidity of the wine helps in tenderizing the meat. Not only that, but the meat will stay moist while cooking. By using this technique, you can create a sumptuous and delicious dish that would surely be loved by your guests.
Red Wine as Vinegar
Remember that fun fact about how leaving a bottle of wine open for more than three days can turn it into vinegar? Well, making homemade vinegar out of your leftover red wine is a must-try! It can also be easily made by only combining three parts of red wine to one part vinegar and letting it age in a container for three or four weeks.
Wine vinegar is mainly used for salad dressings, stews, marinades, slow-roasted dishes, and shrubs for cocktails or mocktails. In terms of flavor, red wine vinegar has a particular flavor that is much tangier than balsamic vinegar but can also be fruity like red wine.
The flavors of this mixture are clean and vibrant, mellowed out with a touch of sweetness that will surely spice up your salad greens.
Red Wine as Chocolate Ganache
Level up your desserts by matching a dark chocolate cake with chocolate red wine ganache. Dark chocolate is a popular flavor loved by many, as well as the rich, tangy, and sweet red wine. Combine the two, and now you have a dish that is a match made in heaven.
Making a red wine chocolate ganache is simple. All you have to do is melt semi-sweet chocolate with heavy cream, cocoa powder, butter, and leftover wine. Mix all of them, and you’ll have a tasty ganache ready to be served on top of another dessert.
Red Wine as Ice Cubes
If you’re not the type who’s well-versed in the kitchen and still don’t know what to do with your leftover red wine, you can store it up until you finally know what to do with it. A renowned sommelier at Baltaire in Los Angeles, Melanie Kaman, suggests storing leftover wine in the chiller. She recommends that you turn it into ice cubes to make it last longer and use it later as a sauce or sangria.
Takeaway
As you can see, your leftover red wine does not need to be always chugged down in one glass or thrown away. With wine being a part of the culinary world for a long time, there are tons of options available for you to try. So, no more wasting money by throwing leftover wine. Turn it into one of the nifty ideas above to fully get your money’s worth.
