Anne BralyIt comes as no surprise that champagne is the most common of all drinks consumed during New Year's celebrations. But when it comes to cooking, wine is most preferred. Why?
For starters, all those delightful little bubbles tend to scare many cooks into using wine instead. Interesting fact, there are approximately 44 million bubbles in every bottle of sparkling wine (champagne), according to The Wine Institute in California, which also says U.S. sales figures of bubbly from California rose from 11.8 million cases in 2000 to 18.4 million in 2013.
Michelle Huffman Wells, chef and owner of Events With Taste Catering in Chattanooga, loves cooking with champagne.
"It's usually more expensive than white wine, so I think it is not a go-to staple in the kitchen," she says. She suggests that, for cooking, you should buy sparkling wine, the version of Champagne made outside of France's champagne region, and save the expensive stuff for sipping. When cooking, inexpensively priced bubbly works just as well as the priciest, so don't spend money where you don't have to.
Here are some more suggestions:
* Using champagne in your recipes is much like cooking with any wine. Leftover champagne or sparkling wine will work fine as long as they are not more than a week old. Champagne and sparkling wines tend to turn to vinegar quickly after opening, and you do not want a sharp, vinegar flavor to pervade your finished product.
* If you do not get a chance to use your leftover champagne within about a week, do not toss it. Save it to use as champagne vinegar. That's Wells' favorite vinegar.
* Domestic sparkling wines are fine for cooking and, if you have white wine on hand and no champagne, go ahead and use it, saving yourself a trip to the store. White wine and champagne work interchangeably in recipes.
* The majority of any alcohol content will burn out during cooking, but be aware that even a tiny amount may be enough to trigger reactions in those sensitive to alcohol.
So as you plan your New Year's menu and are looking for a delicious finish, try Wells' favorite Champagne Sabayon sauce.
It's beautiful served over berries and makes your mouth water when poured over warm bread pudding.
It can be made with wine, but "for my entire life, I've made my sabayon with champagne. I'm not sure who taught me to do that ... It was a very long time ago. And it's the best," Wells says.
Champagne Sabayon Sauce
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup champagne or sparkling wine
Combine all ingredients in top of a double boiler over simmering water and whisk until thick and double in volume.
Serve over berries, a poached pear or bread pudding.
Happy New Year to you all. And please remember, designate a driver if you go out tonight.
Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.