The Delicious Way To Use Up Leftover White Wine In Your Next Meal

A great way to cook without adding calories is to steam food, but it is notorious for results that are tender but have little flavor. A quick way to change that is by adding some white wine left from the night before to the steaming water, which will impart a layer of flavor that mimics some of the wine's tasting notes. 

Seafood, fish, and vegetables are ideal candidates for this wine steaming method, which will see hints of stone fruit, grassy elements, and aromatics like vanilla gently shine through in your food. Steaming works so beautifully with the delicate flesh of fish and seafood because of the way it denatures proteins. In layman's terms, the steaming lets the protein structures gently unfold, causing them to plump and cook through, as opposed to shrinking and seizing up, which can happen with other more aggressive cooking methods. Think of succulent shrimp steamed over a bath of white wine with lemon and a bay leaf, cod flavors blooming over wine with a bit of thyme or dill, or mussels gently opening over white wine with garlic. The combinations are endless and you can take direction from the profile of your wine and your protein. Vegetables also enjoy this delicate treatment and can even be cooked at the same time as the protein, anything from asparagus to spinach or artichokes will work.

White wine only lasts for three to five days at its peak once opened, so using up any leftovers from a recent dinner is an unexpected way to continue to enjoy its flavors at their best. The technique is simply to add your leftover white wine of choice to the water and get it simmering. From there, add your intended goodies to a steaming basket. You don't need a dedicated steam pot, you could even suspend the food in an aluminum foil "basket" in a pinch, as long as it is hovering well above the simmering liquid. Then, tightly cover and let the steam work its magic. The idea here is that the food never touches the liquid, but absorbs its essence as the food cooks through via the steam. This method totally circumvents celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli's concern about the cardinal sin of cooking with wine, which she deems not letting the alcohol fully cook off, as the food never actually comes into contact with the wine itself.