Cooking With Alcohol

[MorningStar]

I just made a pasta dish tonight with some cooking wine.  I'm not comforable buying a bottle of actual wine.  Anyway, it was good!  Alcohol tenderizes meat and it "deglazes" the pan.  We're commanded not to have strong drink, which I assume is because it would lead to drunkeness, but no one is going to get drunk on cookie dough with vanilla extract or pasta.     A friend of mine made Julia's Child's "beef borgineon" (I'm sure I spelled that incorrectly) and it is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted!

[Tacenda]

If your husband doesn't have high blood pressure, he might try licorice. ACTUAL licorice, not the artificial flavoring, which is really anise. I had a bad stomach upset some time back -- don't know what it was, exactly, but taking licorice fixed it right up. The thing about licorice is that it contains a phytochemical that can cause blood pressure to elevate a bit, and people with hypertension don't need that.

Real licorice....great, I'll report the results for both you and Cal!

[Calm]

Real licorice....great, I'll report the results for both you and Cal!

Makes sure he checks with his doctor, it sounds like he has a complicated picture and you don't want something that might give relief in one area to screw things up in another.

[pcarthew]

I voted yes. Not because of the alcohol that doesn't cook off though. I believe that supporting the companies that produce the wine or beer is what is wrong. People are making money by taking advantage of others weaknesses.

I don't disagree with you, however and unfortunately many of your favourite food brands are tied up with companies that produce liquor and tobacco products, such as kraft, and many, many others. To ethically purchase is a wonderful and worthy goal but very nearly impossible, unfortunately!

[jkwilliams]

Please attempt reading for comprehension.  Here, let me spell it out for you.  What I was pointing out is those who make such a fuss about cooking with alcoholic beverages and think nothing of using Nyquil.  Like old Uncles cold medicine that the kids were not allowed to have.

 

Tough crowd. I was making a joke. sheesh.

[pcarthew]

+1

Very good OP. As an undergraduate, I published a paper on this topic. For the first hundred years of the Church, Mormons interpreted the Word of Wisdom much more loosely than they do today. Moderation was the key:

• Coffee, tea, and alcohol were among the list of provisions that the Church recommended for the westward trek.
• Church leaders used wine for the sacrament at Sunday meetings and at the dedication celebrations for the temples in Kirtland, Ohio, Nauvoo, etc.
• Brigham Young chewed tobacco for most of his adult life. (He acquired the habit before he converted to Mormonism, and he struggled in vain to completely give it up, managing to quit for a nine-year period between 1848 and 1857.)
• Young encouraged some early Latter-day Saints to begin vineyards in Utah, sending one group of Swiss immigrants to southern Utah to start the Dixie Wine Mission. Their vineyards were very successful, and they sold wine all over the Western United States in the late nineteenth century.

So why are we as Mormons today teetotalers, when our ancestors weren't? The fact that early Latter-day Saints regarded the Word of Wisdom differently than we do today? The answers are many and varied, but quite interesting.

My personal belief is these products have in our day become great symbols of Babylon, and have a great worldly persona attached to them. It is often seen as quite sophisticated to understand all the nuances of wine in all their varieties and types.. Almost to the point as you partake and have the right labelled bottle sitting in your ice bucket or on your table your IQ increases immediately by about 30 points and if you don't your IQ can seem to diminish to those around you. Even the waiter can appear a limitless bemused at your not partaking of one of the sacraments of Babylon. I also believe it reminds us of who we are and our covenant every time we sit down to eat...just my personal thoughts!

[thesometimesaint]

I made my own vanilla extract, had to go to the provincial liquor store to get Everclear iirc.  I am not patient enough though to wait for it to develop so won't try that again.

Just put on a back shelf, shake it well every week or so, and in about two months you'll have high quality vanilla extrract.

 

Vodka will work just fine. But to be technically correct any booze will work. Though you may not like all the results, flavor wise. Good quality Bourbon whiskey works well. Also try Tahitian Vanilla beans for a more floral taste.

[thesometimesaint]

I just made a pasta dish tonight with some cooking wine.  I'm not comforable buying a bottle of actual wine.  Anyway, it was good!  Alcohol tenderizes meat and it "deglazes" the pan.  We're commanded not to have strong drink, which I assume is because it would lead to drunkeness, but no one is going to get drunk on cookie dough with vanilla extract or pasta.     A friend of mine made Julia's Child's "beef borgineon" (I'm sure I spelled that incorrectly) and it is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted!

 

Don't use "cooking wine" it has too much salt in it. Just use a medium/good quality wine to cook with. Don't waste your money for the high dollar stuff. The $6-$10 range works well.

[ERayR]

Don't use "cooking wine" it has too much salt in it. Just use a medium/good quality wine to cook with. Don't waste your money for the high dollar stuff. The $6-$10 range works well.

 

For those who are worried about alcohol content would the non-alcoholic varieties do the job?   They are readily available in both beers and wines, at least in the local grocery stores.

[thesometimesaint]

For those who are worried about alcohol content would the non-alcoholic varieties do the job?   They are readily available in both beers and wines, at least in the local grocery stores.

 

Alcohol is a solvent that releases flavor compounds that non alcohol based liquids can't. IE; Your tomatoes taste tomatoier when cooked with wine than water.

I can't recommed cooking with non-alcohol beers and wines for that reason.

 

Also keep in mind that alcohol boils off at about 180 F. Then it forms an azeotrope so not matter how hot or how long you cook it the alcohol never completely goes away. Yeast breads have minute amounts of alcohol in them. But generally the amounts are so low that few but the most die hard teetotaler would object. Of course with everything if you personally are allergic to something, including alcohol, don't use it.

[cursor]

The Word of Wisdom (D&C89) is about physical health benefits from proper eating habits. Alcohol in moderate amounts does not negatively affect physical health. Certainly, the elimination of the alcohol content from alcoholic substances shouldn't at all be an issue.

[thesometimesaint]

The Word of Wisdom (D&C89) is about physical health benefits from proper eating habits. Alcohol in moderate amounts does not negatively affect physical health. Certainly, the elimination of the alcohol content from alcoholic substances shouldn't at all be an issue.

 

All depends of how we define moderate. A single glass of wine two or three times a week with a meal won't hurt most adults. The issue for non LDS in a health context is of why. Are we drinking the alcohol because we want to or because we have to?

[Jude2]

There is nothing quite as good as a Tiramisu. 

[thesometimesaint]

There is nothing quite as good as a Tiramisu. 

 

Never really liked the taste of cold coffee, and had to put enough cream and suger in the that it was better just to eat the cream and sugar in the form of ice cream.

Now-a-days it is just a violation of the WoW.

[canard78]

Cobalt-70:

It is available here in the US as "The Stateside" in New York.

It is an ancient drink probably invented along side beer, and was/is used as a mild tonic. I have no information as to Mormon specifics, as we were/are a very minor religious sect. But it does fit well with the tenor of the times in people looking for a more healthy lifestyle.

 

Are you still going on about this? 

 

Joseph continued drinking beer. He didn't consider it a violation of the WoW. 

[thesometimesaint]

Are you still going on about this? 

 

Joseph continued drinking beer. He didn't consider it a violation of the WoW. 

 

I never said he didn't. Barley Water was also available if he wanted it. He also occasionally drank wine. I don't know of any occasion where he drank hard liquor. Though he well could have. It wasn't until after his death that the WoW became a commandment. Something about continuing revelation there.

[VideoGameJunkie]

The smartones microwave pasta I bought is made with vodka crème sauce. I checked and there's no alcohol in that sauce.

[thesometimesaint]

The smartones microwave pasta I bought is made with vodka crème sauce. I checked and there's no alcohol in that sauce.

 

At below 0.5% alcohol by volumn it is not required to be listed. Doesn't mean there is or is not alcohol in it, just that it needn't be listed.

[Calm]

The smartones microwave pasta I bought is made with vodka crème sauce. I checked and there's no alcohol in that sauce.

So how does it taste?  

[VideoGameJunkie]

So how does it taste?  

It tastes kind of sweet. And by sweet I mean flavor sweet and not awesome sweet.

[california boy]

I am very aware of that.

There is a table that shows the percentage that remains after simmering or boiling half way down this page. http://www.ochef.com/165.htm

I simmer my tomato sauce for roughly 30-60 minutes after I add the ingredients. Therefore this chart says 30% of the alcohol remains. 1/2 cup of wine at 10% alcohol content in 10 cups of sauce (I make big batches) leaves approximately .3 x .05 x .1 = .0015 or

%.015 alcohol by volume in cooked tomato sauce.

(Someone check my math)

So is this where the expression that "someone got sauced" when they are drunk?  

 

Have you been getting people drunk on your tomato sauce?  

 

Are you holding regular "sauce busts" in the back yard??  

 

I hope you know I am just kidding.  Your spaghetti sauce sounds delicious.

[Hamba Tuhan]

There is a table that shows the percentage that remains after simmering or boiling half way down this page. http://www.ochef.com/165.htm

 

I have trouble accepting this. If I toss 60 ml of white wine into my risotto after the rice has been sauteed, it takes about 3 minutes before no visible liquid of any kind remains, yet I'm supposed to think that somehow more than half of the alcohol in the wine is still there when the water that makes up the bulk of the wine is not, even though alcohol has a lower evaporation point than water?

[thesometimesaint]

I have trouble accepting this. If I toss 60 ml of white wine into my risotto after the rice has been sauteed, it takes about 3 minutes before no visible liquid of any kind remains, yet I'm supposed to think that somehow more than half of the alcohol in the wine is still there when the water that makes up the bulk of the wine is not, even though alcohol has a lower evaporation point than water?

 

Lots depends on the alcohol content of a particular wine, amount used, and how long it is cooked at temperatures above the boiling point of alcohol. A miniscule amount of alcohol will always be there. But the amounts will/can be so small as to be negligible.

[Calm]

I have trouble accepting this. If I toss 60 ml of white wine into my risotto after the rice has been sauteed, it takes about 3 minutes before no visible liquid of any kind remains, yet I'm supposed to think that somehow more than half of the alcohol in the wine is still there when the water that makes up the bulk of the wine is not, even though alcohol has a lower evaporation point than water?

Could it have been absorbed by the rice?

[Hamba Tuhan]

Could it have been absorbed by the rice?

No doubt a few molecules of it has, but the rice is still completely crunchy afterward, and when the wine hits the bottom of the hot pot, the whole lot basically just erupts into steam and disappears. I went to visit a mate in hospital last night, and I used the alcohol spray outside the ward both going and coming. Three seconds of rubbing my hands together generated enough heat to eliminate any detectable alcohol on my skin. Look, the US agency that did this study might be right, but it's counterintuitive.