Don't like the wine? Cook with it!

I started buying and drinking boxed wine when the AC was in India for four months and I was stuck at home in graduate school. The whole higher quality boxed wine concept had just started- Black Box- and my taste in red wines was still fairly basic. More importantly, I had developed a taste for wine with dinner, felt guilty about opening a bottle without finishing it and didn't want AC to come home to a drunk. So boxed wine fit the bill, I could have one glass and that's it (okay, okay, that was the goal). Now the wine in a box industry has grown and there are more options. You'd think this would be a good thing, but I have found that the quality varies tremendously and since one box is four bottles, it's become a bit of a crap-shoot and a commitment to a lot of wine you may not want to drink.

Case in point: I bought a box of Pinot Grigio, same brand as a Sauv Blanc I enjoy.  I poured a glass and it was just blah, nothing, watery, not good. I'm not a boxed wine snob AND I don't want to drink something that I really don't enjoy, kinda defeats the purpose. Anyway, I regreted the $18 I spent, but figured we could use it for cooking. AC comes home from a business trip and goes to Costco. I get home from work and he's all excited about a box of Pinot Grigio he got for $14 at Costco.

Yep. Same one. Even he can't stand it. Hello recipes that use white wine.

This became a pretty easy challenge, as white wine can replace any liquid. For this recipe we substituted wine for water when cooking Quinoa. We're new to this whole grain, but have really come to like it. As with any grain, adding flavor is important, and it's easy to over-salt, cooking it in wine instead of water was delicious. It added moisture and very subtle flavor that added to the overall dimension of the dish. We added dried cherries to the Quinoa after cooking and it's really all it needed. So here's your recipe.

Pork Chops and Quinoa

• Two small boneless pork chops, each cut in half. 
• 1 clove garlic, minced 
• 1 finely minced cayenne pepper (any hot pepper will do, if you use powder add it at the end)
• 1/2 sweet bell pepper, diced
• 5-6 crimini mushrooms
• 2/3 c artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/4 c dry vermouth
• 1 tbsp butter
• olive oil, salt and black pepper

Saute garlic and cayenne pepper in oil olive over medium/high heat. Lightly sear both sides of the pork chops in the pan, add red bell peppers, mushrooms and vermouth, reduce the heat to medium. Let the sauce cook the pork and reduce. When reduced to about half the amount (about 2 min), add butter to thicken the sauce. Add the artichoke hearts and basil, salt and black pepper to taste.

We made the Quinoa in our rice cooker, following the directions on the package, using white wine instead of water. Add diced dried cherries and a little salt when done.     

We've been using this method of cooking meat a lot lately (sear first, then poach in broth, wine, vermouth, you name it) as it browns it nicely and ends up really moist and flavorful, picking up the flavors of the broth. It's also really hard to over cook your protein this way. It is particularly amazing with Salmon, cooks perfectly every time.