Vermouth, Marsala, Sherry
Three things I recommend to have in your kitchen cabinet at any given time to use for cooking: Vermouth, Marsala, and Sherry.
Vermouth: You can use this in risotto, sauteing shrimp, in black bean soup, for sauteing chicken, or pretty much any recipe that calls for white wine. There's sweet and dry: I have been cooking with dry, but you can experiment.
Marsala: This is delicious for chicken marsala, but also can be used to saute all sorts of mushrooms, particularly portobello. What I recommend is cooking the portobello mushroom in the marsala, and then putting grated manchego cheese on it and letting it melt while the mushroom is still in the pan. Yummy! Again, there are dry and sweet marsalas; I've tried both, and I've had much success with both.
Sherry: This is particularly excellent for stewing fruits like apples and pears. Add them to the saucepan with some sweetener like honey or agave nectar and bring them to a boil with the sherry barely covering them. Cover and simmer for a good 45 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more flavor it brings out. I also like adding cinnamon sticks to the mix. You can also saute bananas on the stove top in a frying pan, again with a sweetener and if you really want to be naughty, some chocolate. The sherry is absolutely delicious cooked into the bananas.
I will also just mention that brandy is also great for stewing fruits (depending on how you like them), and all of the above (but obviously not at the same time!) can be added into soups to give them a rich flavor (definitely check your recipes though before you do this).
Between these three items and extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, and some lemon juice in the fridge, these are staple pantry items, to be replenished immediately when low. They are easily found at the grocery store (generally in the wine section, are usually very reasonably priced, and last a long time. I would suggest getting not the cheapest ones but the next level up (a few dollars more), but in my opinion, there's no need to go splurging, they still work very well without having to rack up your credit card bill.
So there you go, imagine the possibilities!
Vermouth: You can use this in risotto, sauteing shrimp, in black bean soup, for sauteing chicken, or pretty much any recipe that calls for white wine. There's sweet and dry: I have been cooking with dry, but you can experiment.
Marsala: This is delicious for chicken marsala, but also can be used to saute all sorts of mushrooms, particularly portobello. What I recommend is cooking the portobello mushroom in the marsala, and then putting grated manchego cheese on it and letting it melt while the mushroom is still in the pan. Yummy! Again, there are dry and sweet marsalas; I've tried both, and I've had much success with both.
Sherry: This is particularly excellent for stewing fruits like apples and pears. Add them to the saucepan with some sweetener like honey or agave nectar and bring them to a boil with the sherry barely covering them. Cover and simmer for a good 45 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more flavor it brings out. I also like adding cinnamon sticks to the mix. You can also saute bananas on the stove top in a frying pan, again with a sweetener and if you really want to be naughty, some chocolate. The sherry is absolutely delicious cooked into the bananas.
I will also just mention that brandy is also great for stewing fruits (depending on how you like them), and all of the above (but obviously not at the same time!) can be added into soups to give them a rich flavor (definitely check your recipes though before you do this).
Between these three items and extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, and some lemon juice in the fridge, these are staple pantry items, to be replenished immediately when low. They are easily found at the grocery store (generally in the wine section, are usually very reasonably priced, and last a long time. I would suggest getting not the cheapest ones but the next level up (a few dollars more), but in my opinion, there's no need to go splurging, they still work very well without having to rack up your credit card bill.
So there you go, imagine the possibilities!
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