Wine Plays Supporting Role In These Dishes

Give new meaning to wine and dine

We're used to agonizing over what wine to pair with dinner feasts, but now that equation has flipped.

Wine has always played a starring role in our drinking glasses, and now it also plays a supporting role as a cooking ingredient. From Madeira and Champagne to Pinot Noir and Riesling, the flavor notes we prize in the bottle also add depth and flavor to our recipes.

We found ingenious applications of wine in kitchens across the country, from New York to New Mexico (click here to see a slide show of wine dishes).

At Brassica Mediterrean Kitchen & Wine Bar in California, wine is honored in true Napa Valley fashion in a slow-braised beef dish that incorporates red wine, Pedro Ximénez sherry, veal stock and herbs for tender and intensely flavorful meat (click here to see the recipe).

Or take the bottle straight to the dessert course with our recipe for Gewürztraminer-poached pineapple with vanilla ice cream for a light finish to a meal with a boozed-up kick (click here to see the recipe).

Next time we shop for wine, we'll be sure to buy two bottles: one for the cook and one for the kitchen.