I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
..... with no indication of how long this might be.

Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?

And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.

Jim

Jim wrote:
> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
> out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.


I can't answer the question about how long it would take for the liquid
to be absorbed. I can tell you that if you're cooking over low heat,
the liquid isn't as likely to be absorbed as it is for it to evaporate,
first the alcohol, then the water. Also, definitely buy a drinking
wine, not a cooking one. The wine doesn't have to be high end
expensive, but it should be one that doesn't make you want to spit it
out when you taste it. Since the recipe is from an Italian cookbook,
get an inexpensive bianco and a chianti.


Probably irrelevant information: I tried La *******a yesterday. The
label is hysterical, and the wine was quite nice for the price.


--Lia

In article > ,
"Jim" > wrote:

> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
> out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.

Cooking wine is generally of very lousy quality, mostly watered down
regular wine with a lot of salt added. Use any wine for cooking that you
enjoy drinking.

As for how long to cook the stew after you add the wine, it would be
easier to tell if you included the full recipe, but my guess is to just
try ten minutes, taste, and if it doesn't taste good enough, add more
wine, cook further, and add any spices you think the dish might need.
Cook a few minutes longer if necessary, then repeat the taste test. Let
taste be your guide.

Jim wrote on 04 Feb 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After
> cooking onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white
> wine and the same of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the
> liquid is absorbed" .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have
> to go out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.
>
> Jim
>
>
>

drinking wine would be preferred as cooking wine is way too salty to
actually use. Plus with a wine that you'd drink or have drunk in the past
you are assured of the taste/flavour you are adding. As to the
'absorbed', I find that about 20 minutes of simmering (per cup 250ml)
takes the edge of added wine and hass the wine melded in with the other
flavours in the stew, but that isn't really answering your question. Just
ensure that the proper thickening of the broth occurs and it tastes ok to
you, would be what I would do.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.

Ditto to all of this:

1. Err on the side of extra time in simmering - it is hard to simmer "too
low."
2. Buy wine you can drink - NOT cooking wine.
3. Buy extra pancetta - it is more than yummy - to use the technical food
term.

"Jim" > wrote in message
k...
> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the
> same of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is
> absorbed" .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to
> go out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.
>
> Jim
>
>

It's not really absorbed but rather evaporates. It's a common technique for
concentrating the wine flavor and getting rid of most of the alcohol. I'd
guess maybe 20-30 minutes?


--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Jim wrote:

> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
> out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.

Always use decent wine for cooking. It reduces, and if you have a funky tasting
wine that bad taste is going to be concentrated.

That is a heck of a lot of wine, and wine is not exactly absorbed by the meat.
The meat does take on some of the flavour, but the wine reduces.

Be very careful about the temperature. Braising is a good way to make tougher
cuts of meat tender and tasty, but you have to be very careful about the
temperature. It requires a gentle simmer ...... not boiling!!! A stew boiled is
a stew spoiled.

I prefer to cook stews in the covered pot in a 300 degree oven. While I prefer
to cook them one day and then re-heat them the next day, they can be good the
first day but they need 3-4 hours of slow cooking.

Jim wrote:
> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?

The wine will evaporate and form a reduction but will not be absorbed.

In article > ,
"Jim" > wrote:

> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> .... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?


If the pan is covered, the meat will give off liquid and you will up
with more, not less. If the pan is not covered, the wine will
evaporate, concentrating the flavor. Just cook the stew until it is
done. I like mine cooked several hours, depending on the kind of meat.


> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
> out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.


There's no such thing as "cooking" wine. There's just good wine and bad
wine. Life is too short to buy bad wine.

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA

Jim wrote:

> I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
> onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
> of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
> ..... with no indication of how long this might be.
>
> Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>
> And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
> out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.

Meat won't absorb much wine or any other water-based liquid while
cooking. It surrenders it as the protein denatures. The wine is actually
evaporating, reducing, and concentrating flavors.

Forget cooking wines. They're usually third-rate wines with salt added.
Use something you'd drink.

Pastorio

Dave Smith wrote:

>Jim wrote:
>
>
>
>>I'm going to cook a beef stew from an Italian cookery book. After cooking
>>onions, pancetta and then the meat, you add 375ml of white wine and the same
>>of red wine, then "cook over a low heat till all the liquid is absorbed"
>>.... with no indication of how long this might be.
>>
>>Does anyone have any idea of how long it might take?
>>
>>And would I be better using drinking type wine or cooking wine? I have to go
>>out shopping, anyway, now I've found out what pancetta is.
>>
>>
>
>Always use decent wine for cooking. It reduces, and if you have a funky tasting
>wine that bad taste is going to be concentrated.
>
>That is a heck of a lot of wine, and wine is not exactly absorbed by the meat.
>The meat does take on some of the flavour, but the wine reduces.
>
>Be very careful about the temperature. Braising is a good way to make tougher
>cuts of meat tender and tasty, but you have to be very careful about the
>temperature. It requires a gentle simmer ...... not boiling!!! A stew boiled is
>a stew spoiled.
>
>I prefer to cook stews in the covered pot in a 300 degree oven. While I prefer
>to cook them one day and then re-heat them the next day, they can be good the
>first day but they need 3-4 hours of slow cooking.
>
>
>
Agree with you absolutely about all of the above. Actually, I'd be a bit
worried about a recipe that referred to the liquid being "absorbed", but
the problem might be with the translation if the cookbook is originally
Italian.

Have you ever used beef cheek for stew? It is absolutely the best cut,
if you can get it. The result is like oxtail - and you cook it much the
same way - but no fat and no bones.

Something I do with braises (a Stephanie Alexander tip) is cover them
with a piece of baking paper cut to fit. You still put the lid on the
pot, but it prevents any drying out.

Christine