Dear New Friends:

I joined your community this evening and I am thrilled with the variety and richness of the recipes and the videos offered! You do truly beautiful work. I am a novice when it comes to cooking with wine. So often recipes will require a red or white wine, but offer no suggestions as to what wine to specifically use. The common advice given is that it should be a good quality drinking wine, but that's all. I would love some specific advice on this subject, so that as I try your wonderful recipes the wine requirement will be intelligently and tastefully provided. I welcome your thoughts. Know my sincere gratitude for all the talent and hard work that went into the development of your website and school. I am so excited to have this opportunity. Please have a wonderful holiday weekend. Gratefully, Leah Eselgroth, Quincy, MA (leah.eselgroth@comcast.net)

Welcome Leah. Good wine will give you good results, and less than quality wine can compromise the dish. Keep in mind it doesn't have to be expensive. With white, a dry wine like a Sauvignon works well, and a dry white Vermouth works even better at a very good price. Vermouth offers complex flavors and keeps well. With red, you have more options. A Beaujolais offers more fruity, gentle flavors, while a Cabernet more tannin and richness. In each case, make sure to evaporate as much alcohol as possible. It is best to add wine in the beginning to a dry pan, always before adding any other liquids such as stock. Rule of thumb is to reduce the wine by at least half.

Hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you Tony for your thoughtful guidance. While recovering from a serious accident, I watched a lot of television via the food network, etal. I became aware of the techniques you mentioned, they are clear to my thought, but the wine choices were vague to me. Thank you for your suggestions. I'm eager to put them into action. As I have viewed the several video receipes already bookmarked by me, those with wine did include thougthful directions regarding reducing the wine before adding stock, etc. They're pretty careful with the details here, as I'm learning. Thank you for your suggestions too. They more than help, they inspire. I did have a lovely holiday, I'm now home after a year in the hospsital. So every day is a holiday to me........take care.