What's for supper - Second Course

Status
Not open for further replies.
Want to use some red wine in a potjie. Any recommendations? I know Jamie says if you not prepared to drink it don't use it in your food.
 
faniedry said:
What are you making in the pot? I used tassies recently and everything tasted good.
Click to expand...

Beef. So it's generally red wine with red meat and white wine with the chicken. If it tastes Lekker then I'd extend it to normal stews as well. I'm just so paranoid it will change the taste of the meat that I'll end up hating it.

Looking to enhance the flavor profile.
 
akescpt said:
Want to use some red wine in a potjie. Any recommendations? I know Jamie says if you not prepared to drink it don't use it in your food.
Click to expand...

The general recommendation is to use the same wine you'll be drinking with the dish. But with cooking I find that a bland cheap red will also be ok. It's when you get a characterful but poor wine, e.g. with high stringency, that it interferes with the flavour. If it's just deglazing a pan, even like a Robertsons or something will be fine.
 
akescpt said:
Beef. So it's generally red wine with red meat and white wine with the chicken. If it tastes Lekker then I'd extend it to normal stews as well. I'm just so paranoid it will change the taste of the meat that I'll end up hating it.

Looking to enhance the flavor profile.
Click to expand...

What else do you normally put in there? beef stock? Oxtail soup? I made a lamb pot and beef pot in the last 2 months. The lamb had a better taste, even though both has red wine in it. Beef was stock and soup and red wine, where the lamb was red wine, tomato paste, canned cherry tomato's etc.

If you want I'll share the address I kinda followed on the lamb one. Definitely recommend it. I just screwed up my pot by stirring it too much and it ended up a stew rather than pot. Put the flavour was champion. Not bad for my first potjie :D
 
cerebus said:
The general recommendation is to use the same wine you'll be drinking with the dish. But with cooking I find that a bland cheap red will also be ok. It's when you get a characterful but poor wine, e.g. with high stringency, that it interferes with the flavour. If it's just deglazing a pan, even like a Robertsons or something will be fine.
Click to expand...

I used tassies for my beef. Want to try the same address again, but use a better wine, just to test if the wine makes that big of a difference.
 
cerebus said:
The general recommendation is to use the same wine you'll be drinking with the dish. But with cooking I find that a bland cheap red will also be ok. It's when you get a characterful but poor wine, e.g. with high stringency, that it interferes with the flavour. If it's just deglazing a pan, even like a Robertsons or something will be fine.
Click to expand...

This is my problem.i don't drink wine so have no idea of this character you speak of. This is why I'm looking for names.i was standing infront of all the red wines and was lost. Colleague said'durbanville hills' merlot but when they didn't have it I left without anything :(
 
faniedry said:
What else do you normally put in there? beef stock? Oxtail soup? I made a lamb pot and beef pot in the last 2 months. The lamb had a better taste, even though both has red wine in it. Beef was stock and soup and red wine, where the lamb was red wine, tomato paste, canned cherry tomato's etc.

If you want I'll share the address I kinda followed on the lamb one. Definitely recommend it. I just screwed up my pot by stirring it too much and it ended up a stew rather than pot. Put the flavour was champion. Not bad for my first potjie :D
Click to expand...

Normally beef stock when recipe says red wine. What are this 'tassies'?
 
akescpt said:
Normally beef stock when recipe says red wine. What are this 'tassies'?
Click to expand...

You can leave the stock out altogether and let the wine and herbs provide all the flavouring. Then you need to let it cook for a long time because the wine changes its makeup dramatically after several hours. It becomes a perfect background by itself.
 
cerebus said:
You can leave the stock out altogether and let the wine and herbs provide all the flavouring. Then you need to let it cook for a long time because the wine changes its makeup dramatically after several hours. It becomes a perfect background by itself.
Click to expand...

Recommendations?
 
I used Wolf Trap for my beef short rib stew, came out very nice, and that bottle is R35 or something. Just remember that if you're adding wine, balance it with a spoon or two of sugar.
 
cerebus said:
You can leave the stock out altogether and let the wine and herbs provide all the flavouring. Then you need to let it cook for a long time because the wine changes its makeup dramatically after several hours. It becomes a perfect background by itself.
Click to expand...

Stock is generally used to add body to the braising liquid. Homemade stocks and good quality store-bought stocks have gelatin in them which will thicken the sauce quite a bit.
 
Randhir said:
Stock is generally used to add body to the braising liquid. Homemade stocks and good quality store-bought stocks have gelatin in them which will thicken the sauce quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I've come across some recipes that recommend skipping the braising of the meat. It seems heretical to me but like Jamie did some tests and found that the meat was sweeter and lighter without the braising step.
 
Well, you'd braise tougher cuts of meat, as opposed to grilling the tender cuts. How does he suggest breaking down the collagen in the tough cuts to end up with a tender result?

And here where we're talking about stews, braising is pretty much the go-to method.

Also, as much as I like JO, I'd tend to take any of his 'research' with a pinch of salt.
 
Randhir said:
Well, you'd braise tougher cuts of meat, as opposed to grilling the tender cuts. How does he suggest breaking down the collagen in the tough cuts to end up with a tender result?
Click to expand...

Well I guess it's just about having enough cooking time in the juices of the stew to break down the tough cuts. It's the initial searing step to brown the meat that he said was unnecessary.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X