Wine, Vinegar, and/or Olive Oil

[ttubbs]

I read through the thread on name brands hoping to learn something about these three items specifically, but I didn’t see them mentioned anywhere.

For me, vinegar is the biggest problem. I’ve tried several different kinds of wine, rice, white and cider for various things. For pickles, marinades, and that type of thing, the supermarket stuff seems to work fine, but when the vinegar has to shine, like in vinaigrette or drizzled over something, the supermarket stuff just seems to ruin whatever it touches. I was hoping to get some insight where and what brands to look for, for these types of applications.

Olive oil isn’t a real problem. I do get mine from the supermarket, but was just curious if there was some sort of consensus one what brands were best. Olive oil is so good, it’s hard for me to imagine that there could be any bad ones, just that there are better ones.

And lastly is wine. I am wine illiterate. Also, since our moral conviction is to not drink wine as a beverage, I am not really motivated to become an expert. However, I do love to cook, and I buy Sutter Home Fre to cook with so I can have my fun without offending anybody (hopefully). The Fre brand is alcohol free if you didn’t know. As far as I know, Fre just has a white and a red to choose from. I know there are other brands of alcohol free stuff, and was wondering if any of you had some insight into some very good brands. I’d also be interested in tips on how you read recipes that call for wine. If it just says white or red, I assume that means dry, but am not really confident that I am getting the point. Besides that, how do you tell if a wine is sweet or dry or whatever else the recipe might call for? Maybe it’s just because I’ve only looked in the supermarket, but the labels there don’t say sweet or dry on them.

Thanks,
TT

[RebeccaT]

Colvita makes a good balsamic vinegar for everyday use, and you can get it at the grocery. The only time I use store brand vinegar is when I need white or cider - for all others, I try to get something better. If you want to splurge, Williams Sonoma carries some wonderful flavored vinegars.

For olive oil, extra virgin all the way! It has much more flavor. I like Alessi.

As far as wine is concerned, I don't know much about reds, but dry whites include Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and some Savignion Blancs, and sweets include Johanessburg Reislings and Gewurtztraminers. I was told once to look at the bottle - if it is tall and narrow and tapers to the top, then it's a sweet wine. I don't know why that is though.

A little secret - I keep little bottles of Grey Poupon brand cooking wine (it's usually shelved with the vinegars) on hand. They make a Madiera, a Sherry, and a White that can be used whenever wine is called for in a recipe, and is great since I don't always want to open a bottle for whatever I'm making if we won't be drinking it right away.

Hope this helps!

[ttubbs]

Thanks RebeccaT, that is exactly the practical kind of advice I am looking for. I have updated my notes.