Cooking with Tennessee Wine
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Tammy Algood (UT Extension)
"What's nice about this is you can make it ahead of time and then gently re-warm it."
Chuck Denney (UT Institute of Agriculture)
Ho, ho, ho - it’s the holidays and UT Extension food specialist Tammy Algood is ready to feed us. Today lunch will be seared pork chops covered in a sauce made from a Tennessee wine. In this case, bottled at Beans Creek Winery in Coffee County.
Tammy Algood
“We don’t typically think of wine as an ingredient. We think of it as something to go with the meal, not in the meal.”
Chuck Denney
When it comes to food - during the holidays or any time of year - the most important thing is flavor. Algood says that’s where a really well-made wine can turn a dish from so-so to lip-smacking.
Tammy Algood
“It’s a megaphone for flavor. Wine takes flavors to a certain level that no other ingredient can. Some people ask me ‘What is a good substitute for wine? There is no substitute. Whatever it is hasn’t been invented yet.”
Chuck Denney
That yummy sauce is pretty easy to make. Tammy adds white Chardonel wine from Beans Creek to broth, and cooks it down from half a cup to a fourth of cup. Then she mixes in cream and dijon mustard, tops it with green onions, and smothers those chops with it. Tammy says wine is also healthful, and can replace salt as well as water or broth in any recipe. For dessert, she also made walnut brownies with red wine.
Tammy Algood
“The good thing about wine is that you can control the intensity that is in the dish, but it’s always your secret ingredient. If you really want an intense wine flavor, you add it at the beginning of the dish.”
Chuck Denney
Beans Creek is one of 30 wineries in Tennessee, and our state’s climate is good for growing sweet, beautiful grapes. Here they produce wine and champagne. Owner Tom Brown says any state winery is a great place for holiday shopping.
Tom Brown (Beans Creek Winery)
“It’s hard to choose a nicer gift than a good bottle of Tennessee wine. We have a large selection here. There are other wineries near you that would have a large selection.”
Chuck Denney
Using wine in a recipe may sound a little extravagant, but Extension food experts say feel free to experiment this holiday season. So cheers to cooking this Christmas. A Tennessee wine can be liquid flavor.
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NOTE: No matter where you live in Tennessee, there’s a winery not far from you. Go to the web site for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, and you can find a listing of all our state’s thirty wineries.
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