Cooking with Wine
There is no such thing as pure cooking wine. If you would not want to drink it, why would you want to condense the flavor and add it to food? Seriously, only use wine to cook with that you would enjoy drinking. And if you don’t enjoy wine, you may just become a fan after using it to cook with. There are so many different varieties of wine, there truly is something for everyone. If you don’t know where to start, go to the wine aisle at your local Trader Joe’s, and ask an employee for a recommendation based on your preferences. You won’t be sorry, I promise!
Bay Leaves
A few tricks when cooking with bay leaves to get the most flavor. Make sure the container holding your bay leaves is tightly sealed when you are finished using it. This will keep the leaves at their freshest for the lifetime of the container. If you cut or chop the bay leaves, you will extract the most flavor. However, make sure not to make the pieces too small so you can easily extract them before serving your dish. Bay leaves tend to stay pretty tough even after ample cooking, so remove them before eating so there are no surprises in your mouth!
