I was originally supposed to pick up a bottle of Basics red wine for a lamb dish that I am planning to feature soon, only to find that my local Sainsbury's had run out of stock. In increasing desperation, I had to make a decision between choosing between white and rosé. I decided to go with the latter, as this would allow me to feature a new item on the blog.
Sainsbury's describes the wine as medium-dry with hints of raspberries and strawberries, which is more or less accurate. I did a recent crash course in wine tasting with my flatmate, and one of the things that I finally understood about the ritual was the swirling of the wine, which would indicate the alcoholic content (from the number of 'legs', or the little streams of liquid that form around and cling onto the glass surface after swirling), and the sugar content (from how slowly the legs would travel back into the glass). Sad to say, no legs formed post-swirling, and the liquid quickly went back to the base of the cup. Still, it made for easy drinking, and conceivably, would be a good mixer for punch.
For today's pasta lunch I simply fried Basics salami in the pan, without any oil. Before they turn crisp, I added half a glass of the wine, seasoned with Basics herb mix, and turned the heat down, allowing the heat to reduce.
Once the pasta is cooked, I added that to the pan, and tossed everything together until mixed thoroughly. After sliding everything into a bowl, I added Basics grated hard cheese, and settled down to enjoy it.
If there's one thing I have found cured meats to be useful for, it is to be able to fry in the pan without having to add more oil. Most of the wine flavour ended up being absorbed by the salami, but the pasta was still enjoyable thanks to the cheese.
| Description | Price per Unit | No. of servings | Trade-up Premium | Trade-up Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosé Wine | £2.85 | 750ml | +£variable | Many |
Interesting - read this after your comment on our review of the Basics red wine here http://sedimentblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/vino-de-mesa-sainsbury.html - but of course, youre cooking with the wine, rather than just glugging it like us!
ReplyDeleteBut as we have said, you should always taste wine before you cook with it. Nothing to do with flavour - it just numbs the fear of cooking...
Hello, and thanks for stopping by. I did have a glass of it before cooking, hence my surprise with the rose. I do agree that Sainsbury's could use a bit of legwork to find a better red for their range though..
ReplyDelete