Substitutes for alcohol in traditional holiday recipes?

Question

It's against my religion to drink or cook with (or serve) alcohol. I'm hosting a party for many of my friends who enjoy wine or other drinks, and also love cooking with it. I have two questions. How can I substitute alcohol in many traditional favourite dishes so I can enjoy them as well as my friends? And is it impolite to request that any of my friends bringing dishes not cook with alcohol/bring wine or champagne to dinner?

Answer 1

Well!
There are many ways to substitute alcohol in your dishes. You can always use natural juices like Cranberry, Pineapple, Orange ,etc and add a little bit of honey to it.That will give you better consistency and also it's great for searing proteins ( it will give you a nice caramelized coat)
The alcohol what it does it infuses the flavors once the ethanol gets evaporated.You can use Ciders and add al little bit of Almond extract. This would provide you with the similar flavor as alcohol.
If what you are looking for is the flambee flavor and caramelizing of the alcohol induced flavors, another tip would be to add honey, ginger and soy sauce to the pan.Make sure the pan is very hot and premix the honey, ginger & soy sauce ina small bowl. Once the pan is hot and oiled, add the protein to it, and then the premix. Sear for 3 minutes and turn the piece of protein, sear for another 2 minutes and fnish in the oven.

Second question
No it is not impolite to ask your friends to bring dishes cooked without alcohol, afterall it is your party.
Good luck!

Answer 2

If you are the hostess it is fine for you to request no alcohol or foods containing alcohol be brought to your home. Simply omit alcohol from any recipe and substitute with a suitable flavor like hazelnut for rum or reduced dark grape juice for wine. For substitute drinks invite your friends to compete in the most creative non-alcoholic beverage contest it will be fun and you will have some new recipes for future parties (have a $10 gift card or ornament on hand for a prize).

Answer 3

use the extracts of almond and walnut for similar zing in your recipes. balsamic vinegar is a good substitute for wine. remember this too: most of the alcohol is evaporated from the cooking wines by the time its done cooking! its not rude for you to ask for non-alcoholic beverages and food at your party--if theyre really your friends, they should know you well enough not to be insulted by this and should respect your beliefs

Answer 4

Kosher is just a red herring Coke is changing thier recipe because they used to use good old regular sugar. Then it was cheaper to use Corn Syrup, and then in the past 20 years or so, it was the cheapest to use chemically altered and processed high fructose corn syrup - which is awful and totally unnatural for your body - your liver cant break it down properly and it leads to obesity and other medical problems - but I digress.... Anyway, high fructose corn syrup has not become too expensive since much of the corn now produced in the US is being used for alternative fuel (ethanol) production. The price of corn is skyrocketing and they cant get thier hands on it to make the high fructose corn syrup. SO - they are going back to sugar, whose cost has declined since the corn market took over soft drinks- now the tables have turned and sugar is cheap. But I am sure they will find a way to chemically alter it to make it more even more cost efficient to use. (like sucralose) So the fact that is is Kosher is a cover-up (sort of) to defer the notion that they were using something that was not good for you and going back to what it better- they dont want you to know that their product was bad for you, that would be bad for business.

Answer 5

Add lots of flavor with lemon and chicken stock.. That's what I do when I cook for my dad. He's 10 years sober. I think you should just ask that they warn you if anything has alcohol in it. You can stick to your beliefs they can enjoy the party.