"I love to cook with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food."
That infamous quotation has been attributed to everyone from Julia Child to W.C. Fields. We're not sure who said it, but whoever it was got one thing right: a glass of wine as you cook can both relax you and improve your cooking. For us, cooking is relaxing itself, but we know that not everyone feels that way. To those of you who are a bundle of nerves in the kitchen, we'd like to say this: take a deep breath, pour yourself a glass of wine and use the rest in whatever you're cooking. Cooking with wine (we're talking about using it in the recipe now) adds an instant layer of long-cooked flavor to whatever dish it's included in -- whether it's a splash to deglaze the pan, or a whole bottle used as braising liquid. Wine can be used to add sweetness, and both acidic and savory notes to a dish, depending on its application. It's really one of our favorite ingredients to work with.
We pulled together some of our favorite recipes for cooking with wine, including soups, steaks and even a souffle. Whichever you decide to make, just remember: cooking with wine is fun, drinking wine is fun and doing both those things with friends and family makes them both even better.
