Can any chefs teach me the basics to making simple wine sauces at home?

Question

We cook chicken and steak a lot here (3 bachelors) and we're all getting really tired of the same taste every night. We started cooking peppers and onions, mixing it with rice in a wok, and then just mixing in the chicken that we previously cooked in the wok with some brown sugar on it.

I was hoping someone could explain the basics of some kind of wine sauces. I love Marsala when I eat out, and my brothers enjoy Francese. Can I make something similar at home, cheaply, that's reasonably healthy? Just something to cook the chicken or steak in or put over the top so that I can mix up the taste every night. Thanks for the help.

Please don't answer if you don't know the answer. Serious answers only.

To be more specific, I LOVE the Chicken Marsala from Carrabba's Italian Restaurant. If you have one around you, you should try it. That's sort of what I'm looking for, but I've found their recipe online and it seems like way too much work. We're three 21-25 year old brothers here.

Forgot to ask...is there special kind of wine I should be looking for? Are there specifically designated "cooking wines" (marsala?) or is it all the same?

Answer 1

Cook the meat in a pan in some butter. When it's done, take it out of the pan. Add wine to the pan and scrape the pan to release solids into sauce. After the wine has greatly evaporated and the liquid is reduced to a couple of tablespoons, add some cream. Stir. Voila.

VARIATIONS:

1. Just before adding the wine, add none or one or any combination of the following to the fat left from the meat (use your best judgment and have variety):
garlic
shallots
green onions
onion
mushrooms
peppers
spices (e.g., thyme, savory, marjoram, sage, whatever)
bacon or prosciutto
celery

2. Instead of wine, you could use any of the following alone or in combination:
vinegar
juice (apple, grape, cranberry, whatever)
fresh or canned chopped tomatoes with liquid
tomato paste mixed with water

3. In the very end, after the cream and after the sauce is off the heat, you could sprinkle a tad bit of chopped parsley, if you happen to be in the mood.

Note: When using herbs (spices), remember that a little goes a long way. But don't worry; if you ever make such a mistake, I am certain that you will not forget, and it will never happen again. Trust you instincts because you have been eating your whole lives and you know what tastes good.

Note on wine: You can use different wines and spirits for different flavors in the sauce. As a general guideline, if it tastes good when taking a bite of the meat and a sip of the wine, it is a good choice for the sauce. Different wines and spirits you can use are as follows:
white wine (any)
red wine (any, but generally not a very pale one)
Port
Madeira
Sherry
brandy
whiskey
grappa (Ital.) / marc (Fr.)
note:
(-) rum is only for dessert sauces
(-) vodka is useless in sauces because it has a neutral flavor
(-) gin is used only in extremely rare occasions

Answer 2

Wine sauces are amazingly simple and easy to make. After you're done cooking your meat in a skillet, pour off the fat and add wine (About a cup, at least). Simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. You can then season it. If you want a better, but richer sauce add a hunk of butter after your sauces reduces (reduction here means that the liquid evaporates and the sauce become more viscous).
There are many variations on this. Put chopped shallots in the pan with the browned bits from cooking the meat and cook until beginning to soften. (You could also use onion if you like). You can also add sliced mushrooms to the pan and let them start to saute and soften. After you have your veggies cooked properly, add your wine and cook to reduce. Add butter, or if you're adventurous add heavy cream for a cream sauce. If you add heavy cream, you'll have to cook the sauce for a while more until it begins to thicken. One of my favorite sauces for chicken is made using white wine, shallots, heavy cream and tarragon (Fresh if possible).

Answer 3

Shallot/White wine sauce

Slice/chop shallots thinly, chop mushrooms into small pieces, and sauté in butter (or in pan drippings from the meat). Add a small glass of white wine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Use cornstarch mixed in a very small amount of cold water if you want a thicker sauce. Simmer to desired consistency.

Amounts depend on how many you're cooking for. Experiment to get it just right. For my husband and me, I use about 3 shallots and 2 medium mushrooms. Here in France, I use fond de veau to thicken and give it a meaty flavor (instead of pan drippings and corn starch), but if you're not in France that may not be available. Bouillons in the US just aren't the same.

About the wine: We use a dry white wine. Nothing fancy, just what we'd normally mix with creme de cassis for an aperitif (kir).

Answer 4

I loosely based my recipe on the one listed below. You need to use a stainless steel pan, so that you can deglaze the pan. You can't deglaze a nonstick pan. Cook the steaks according to Alton's recipe. I find that you have to cook them a lot longer than 4 minutes per side. It takes my stove about 10 minutes per side for medium rare. You'll have to figure it out according to your stove. I deglaze the pan with ruby port, I like Sandemans. Ignite it according to directions in Alton's recipe. Add a little bit of Better Than Boullion beef base and reduce by half. Add a swirl of butter at the end and your good to go.

For chicken I like to coat boneless skinless breasts with one of McCormick's Salt Free seasonings. Sear the chicken on high heat in your stainless steel pan for about 2 minutes a side. You want to carmelize the outside, but not burn it. Put the pan in a preheated 350 degree oven, cook 15-20 mins. This piece of chicken is very versatile.

You can cut it up and put it in pasta with chopped fresh tomatoes, olives, and some olive oil.

You can dress your pasta with a regular pesto or sun dried tomato pesto instead of fresh tomatoes. Pesto is easy, put sun dried tomatoes, fresh parsley and basil and olive oil in a small food processor. Process it into a paste and put on the hot pasta and chicken. You can leave out the sun dried tomatoes and add pine nuts and parmesan instead if you want.

You can slice the chicken and serve it on a roll as a sandwich or you can just it as is. I serve it with cous cous that I prepare with olive oil and the same spice that's on the chicken.

Answer 5

http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2002/sauces/index.php?recipe=00


here are some sauce recipies and below are webbies for recipies some for sauses hope this helps