Simple white wine recipe?

rediguana

Hey.

I have a half bottle of Viognier (dry white) wine that, despite its hefty price, isn't really fit for drinking. The quality is fine, it's just not to my taste. Anyway, I'm loath to pour it down the sink, so I'd prefer to use it for cooking something tonight, My girlfriend's away, so I can unleash my inner creativity without fear of dinnertime grumblings.

So anyway, I already have:
White wine
Celery
Carrots
Garlic
New Potatoes.

I'll also be visiting the supermarket later, so I can buy some more stuff.

Anyone have any ideas? I like and eat everything. Nothing requiring TOO much time, please

Grazie.

The Sweeper

buy chicken breasts. Sweat celery and carrots off in a pan with some butter. Take a whole bulb of garlic and shell the cloves. Line a small roasting dish with the celery and carrots, add garlic, pour in wine. Seal the chicken breasts in the pan the celery and carrots were in (less washing up) and then lay on top of the mixture in the roasting tin. Roast at 180 degrees for 35-40 mins (depending on your own oven). Remove chicken from tin when done, allow to rest, and then see what your sauce is like - you could return it to the pan on the hob, add more wine and a spoon of flour and butter mixed to create a rich sauce. Serve with boiled new pots.

rediguana

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

buy chicken breasts. Sweat celery and carrots off in a pan with some butter. Take a whole bulb of garlic and shell the cloves. Line a small roasting dish with the celery and carrots, add garlic, pour in wine. Seal the chicken breasts in the pan the celery and carrots were in (less washing up) and then lay on top of the mixture in the roasting tin. Roast at 180 degrees for 35-40 mins (depending on your own oven). Remove chicken from tin when done, allow to rest, and then see what your sauce is like - you could return it to the pan on the hob, add more wine and a spoon of flour and butter mixed to create a rich sauce. Serve with boiled new pots.

Consider it done. And thanks for your suggestion. My cat, who is ordinarily fussy, goes crazy for chicken too. So it will be a feast for us both.

The Sweeper

no worries. Get some fresh sage alternatively. Simple pan fried breast of chicken with sage and white wine is exellent - you can have steamed carrots and pots on the side.

rediguana

I pretty much did as you said, except...

I put in chicken AND prawns...

and

I mixed Creme Fraiche into the white wine to make it creamy and then...

I grated loads of Swiss Gruyere cheese over it to make it even more sinful.

It's bubbling away satisfyingly in the oven now.

T-Minus ten minutes.

olaola

You can freeze the wine in sandwich bags and use it again.
Risotto is a good way of using up wine too.

rediguana

olaola wrote:

You can freeze the wine in sandwich bags and use it again.
Risotto is a good way of using up wine too.

Freeze wine? I never thought of that before. Excellent idea.

I considered the risotto, but I had some recently (M&S's seafood one - disappointing, all the more so as M&S's ready meals are usually beyond reproach) and also I find it a very heavy, stodgy meal - butter, starchy rice, salt, stock, parmesan. It's also time-consuming, all that careful adding of more water.

olaola

rediguana wrote:

Freeze wine? I never thought of that before. Excellent idea.

I considered the risotto, but I had some recently (M&S's seafood one - disappointing, all the more so as M&S's ready meals are usually beyind reproach) and also I find it a very heavy, stodgy meal - butter, starchy rice, salt, stock, parmesan. It's also time-consuming, all that careful adding of more water.

I would usally eat risotto with a very zesty salad - like rocket with loads of lemon juice on it. It really cuts through it. And the wine does lift the flavour.
Nothing like your own risotto. There are recipies for baked risotto, where you just throw it all in and lash it in the oven. Never tried it though - some people swear by it.

There is just about enough alcohol in wine to just about let it freeze in your home freezer. So it works well.

bonkey

olaola wrote:

There is just about enough alcohol in wine to just about let it freeze in your home freezer. So it works well.

Even better (IMHO) to your sandwich-bag suggestion is to buy a chunk of those ice-cube-making bags.

While its not so environmentally friendly, its great to be able to "measure out" exactly as much frozen wine as you want.

THe greener option is, of course, to buy ice-cube trays, freeze in those, then tap them out into a sandwich bag and bung back in the freezer.

olaola

bonkey wrote:

Even better (IMHO) to your sandwich-bag suggestion is to buy a chunk of those ice-cube-making bags.

That will work if your freezer is cold enough - I don't have a great one tbh. And it also depends on the amount of alcohol in the wine. Otherwise, you'll just have a bag of slush!