Wednesday, August 8, 2012

FREEZE LEFTOVER WINE TO USE IN COOKING

Leftover wine?
What you say?
Is that even possible?

Well, yes there are times when we all have left wine in the bottle.  Heck, some people don't even like wine.  One thing about it though, it is used quite often in cooking and can add a wonderful layer of flavor.  Many like to buy "cooking wine" but you should try tasting that sometime.  I think it's just a few steps removed from drinking red wine vinegar.  It's not the best tasting stuff, that's for sure.  The general consensus is to cook with something you would also drink.

Recently, we had this bottle of Apothic Red, a great tasting wine by the way, but more on that in a future posting.  We drank a couple of glasses each with dinner and had about a cup left over.  I didn't want to just pour it out.

So the next time you open a bottle, drink a couple of glasses and then go
"now what do I do with this leftover wine?", try this:


Step 1: Grab your bottle of leftover wine, and an ice cube tray.


Step 2: Pour the wine into the ice cube tray.
(in this case I had enough leftover to fill 8 compartments of the tray)



Step 3: Place into freezer and freeze until solid
(yes it will freeze, wine has a lower alcohol content than liquor)


Step 4: Pop them out of the tray and place in Ziploc bag and keep in freezer.
(warning, they melt FAST, I took too long to snap this picture, ha)

That's it!  You are done!  That was easy huh?  Now you just simply take them out anytime you need them.  Each compartment is about one ounce, so 8 would be about 1 cup.  To use them, drop them into sauces, stews, soups, pot roasts, marinades, etc, anywhere you want to add the layer of flavor that wine produces.  You can even drop them in a pitcher of Sangria to act as ice cubes that won't dilute it as they melt.

This method works with both red wine and white wine.  Keep in mind, the higher alcohol content wines won't freeze totally hard and solid, so just make sure your freezer is on its coldest setting and you can get them to where you can put them into a container and store them in your freezer.


Once you do, you'll always have some great wine in your freezer ready for use in cooking at a moment's notice.  Nothing goes to waste.


Enjoy!

9 comments:

  1. Good idea! That would be perfect with the fresh basil I froze yesterday - same basic idea - chopped up and tucked into ice cube trays with a bit of water.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Does that mean I shouldn't just leave the bottle sitting on my counter, waiting for the next time it's needed? Does that mean you and I are NOT going to have a party with the leftover wine? Well, OK then. I'll freeze it :-D

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can also save it and make your own wine vinegar

    http://food52.com/blog/3495_red_wine_vinegar_made_at_home

    http://www.gangofpour.com/diversions/vinegar/vinegar2.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And this one

      http://holybasil.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/word-to-your-mother/

      Delete
  4. Great idea! I like the idea to use it in sangria.

    ReplyDelete
  5. On the RARE occasion that I have leftover wine, I will definitely try this. I am a huge fan of ice cube additives.

    ReplyDelete
  6. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! oh my goodness - spitting wine all over the computer screen!!! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! oh poor jambaloney doesn't know what i am laughing about - oh BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA - cough, cough, sputter. jambaloney now worried that i am choking - I DON'T NEED THE HEIMMLICH MANEUVER jambaloney - please stop! oh BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

    left-over wine? left-over wine? does such a thing exist? oh BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

    oh 1st Man - you really killed me with this one!!!!

    your friend, still laughing...BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! sputter, cough.
    kymber

    ReplyDelete

Please leave us a comment! I have some comment moderation on and of course will approve your comment relatively quickly. We love feedback and hearing what others have to share with us all. Please know that I can't always reply to it right away, but ALL comments are read. I will reply just as soon as I can so be sure to come back and see my reply.

Now, let us hear from you!