How to Cook with Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Too much Champagne? Ahh yes, that age-old dilemma of the working class. It is, perhaps, a problem we long for rather than one we actually negotiate on a regular basis, but if ever there were a time when our flutes runneth over with an access of bubbly, it’s during those first few foggy days in January.

Maybe you stockpiled a bit too much for your fabulous New Year’s Eve party or were given a bounty of bottles as holiday gifts and the idea of downing one more glass has you eyeing that industrial strength Tylenol. Or maybe, just maybe, those two mysteriously opened yet unconsumed bottles have begun to lose their fizz, and thus destined for the drain (or so you thought).

Halt! Allow us a to make a few suggestions of a culinary nature.

Cooking with wine, in general, is a good and fast way to impart depth of flavor to sauces, stews, desserts and much more. That’s because wine, by nature of production, has already aged itself and its ingredients into a complex tapestry of sweetness, acidity, tannins, and other aromas and flavors attractive to our taste buds. It’s why we love wine in the first place. When we cook, and thus reduce/concentrate that flavor, while removing far less tasty alcohol, we’re left with a power shot of flavor created for us, deftly and lovingly, in a winery somewhere.

In terms of cooking, sparkling wine is likely not the first thing that comes to mind. For one, it bares association with celebration or brunch cocktails and, on average, runs at a higher price point per bottle. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a great choice for a range of exciting dishes and should not be overlooked!

A good rule of thumb when cooking with wine is to use it in recipes that, themselves, would pair well with the wine in question. It’s also wise to use something of a quality that you yourself would drink. That doesn’t have to mean a $300 bottle of Krug but stay away from the bargain bin, when possible.

Do be careful. Most sparkling wines have a specific and sometimes delicate flavor and are not a viable substitute for any recipe, even those calling specifically for white wine. To complicate matters just a bit, different sparkling wines themselves have marked differences in their own profiles, via production and blends, making some better than others for particular dishes.

In general, French Champagne is dry (or “Brut”), light and often Chardonnay-based with some Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier but can also be majority Pinot Noir, which makes for a bolder more structured profile. Because of an often dry and biscuity breakdown, Champagne does nicely with lighter cream sauces, soups and seafood, especially shellfish, but can stand up to chicken dishes or even as part of the base in a good béarnaise or béchamel.  

Italian Prosecco, another sparkling wine you might have laying around, is made from Glera or Prosecco grapes and, in general, produces a wine with more present sweetness, fruit, and floral aroma. Because of this, Prosecco or a sweeter Champagne, may be suited for a dessert or pork dish with complementing fruit elements.

See here for a more robust explanation of the difference between Champagne and Prosecco.

Others, like Spanish Cava and a slew produced in the American west, sport their own distinct flavor profiles. The trick is to learn them somewhat intimately and use accordingly. Try not to forget that cooking is a soft science, so trust your instincts and take a chance. You might just stumble upon greatness.

The below recipes all fancy a spot of sparkling wine. Cheers and enjoy!

Oysters with Prosecco Mignonette

Chowhound

Mignonette, a classic Oyster topper, is vinegar-based so a dash of sweet Prosecco adds a nice balance. Feel free to try an even sweeter version for a fun twist on a classic appetizer. Get our Oysters with Prosecco Mignonette recipe. 

15-minute Brie and Champagne Fondue

MNN

A sweet sparkling wine would be a total fon-don’t in this one, to be Brut-tally honest. Get the recipe.  

Shrimp and Champagne Bisque with Gruyere Cheese

The Cottage Journal

We mentioned Champagne pairing well with seafood, cream, and soups. This hits all three and would be an awfully nice first course for your next winter dinner party. Get the recipe. 

Classic Béarnaise Sauce

Chowhound

Because this is the sauce accompanying the dish, don’t be frightened by the above mentioned pairing “rule of thumb.” Béarnaise may be loosely affiliated with beef but can tap in to embolden a simple chicken breast or brunch-able egg dish. Get our Classic Béarnaise Sauce recipe.

Chicken au Champagne

Cooking with Curls

A brighter take on Chicken Marsala. A dry Champagne pairs well with mushrooms and lemon, both featured in the dish. Get the recipe. 

Seared Shrimp Tagliatelle With Prosecco Lemon Cream Sauce

Her Family

The sweetness of Prosecco balances out the acidity of the lemon cream sauce in this hearty Italian entree. Get the recipe. 

White Chocolate Strawberry and Prosecco Cake

Globescoffers

Prosecco and sweet strawberries are a classic pairing and this decadent cake brings them together in a showstopper of a meal ender. Get the recipe. 

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Cooking Resolutions We Intend to Keep This Year

Confession time: Raise your hand if you’re someone who voluminously consumes food-related media to the degree that you would describe yourself as an avid home cook, sometimes forgetting that all those pairs of hands in the how-to videos aren’t your own. Now, keep them raised if a time lapse video of the actual activity in your kitchen over the last year would reveal little more than the occasional scrambled egg or boiled water.

I see you. I see all of you. Because I am you.

We have the best of intentions, you and me, bookmarking recipes, imagining dreamy days spent wandering through farmers markets, and impulse-buying cookware that we are sure to put to enthusiastic and immediate use. Instead we remember we don’t have a dishwasher and order Seamless instead, try to forget the bodily harm sustained during our last Trader Joe’s run for frozen burritos, and stash the most recent purchase (still in box) on the last bit of shelf space ahead of the second-most-recent purchase, certain to be unused before the next purchase arrives.

Rather than begin 2018 with a generic set of resolutions destined to fail by the time the Super Bowl comes around, why not simply commit to spending more time in the kitchen becoming the person you already believe you are? In the spirit of being specific for the possibility of actually achieving resolution, why not try any or all of the following toward a more authentic, kitchen-centric existence this year:

Do Your Dishes

Like, seriously. I said these were cooking resolutions, and this is not some bait and switch. Without even having to see your kitchen, I can confidently attest that the number one obstacle standing between you and your glorious cooking future is not your single square foot of kitchen counter space, but the pile of dishes that awaits you before you can dive into your next project. So, do your dishes. Then get into the habit of doing them as soon as you finish your next recipe so that when moxie strikes you can begin with a ready kitchen and not run out of steam before you even get started. Now that we have that out of the way…

Respect Your Gadgets

Whether it’s something as humble as a waffle iron or as ambitious as a countertop deep fryer, you definitely are hoarding something (or many things) that you have so totally been meaning to use, but so totally haven’t. You don’t need to pull everything out of the pantry at once, but choose your weapon, give yourself a deadline, and go for it. Then try to give yourself another deadline to justify keeping it out rather than putting it back on the shelf, and before you know it the thing will have become worth its expense.

New Sensation

Wanting to try a new product or process is a great impetus for getting cooking, but you don’t need to aim huge in order to find inspiration. Like, “it is Jan. 2 and I am absolutely breaking down this side of beef and making Beef Wellington. For lunch.” Easy, killer. Why not start with the produce aisle and seek out kohlrabi, oyster mushrooms, or chervil? Or try the spice rack and see what you can get up to with herbes de Provence, ras el hanout, or garam masala? Big inspiration can come in small packages.

Get Classy

No matter where you live, I would bet your local community college, gourmet market, or main street bakery has a cooking class you can take. Whether you’re an enthusiastic beginner in need of basic knife skills, or a practiced baker looking to get into wedding cake decorating, investing in some professional coaching and spending an evening among other aficionados can invigorate your own ongoing motivation.

Browser-to-Table Dining

Challenge. Go to your social media forum of choice, or wherever you are likely to save online recipes and videos. Ask the person closest to you for a single digit number. Count down that many entries in your saved tab. Boom. This is what you’re having for dinner tonight. No, I don’t care if it’s for Jalapeno-Cheese Corn Dogs.Why else would you be saving all of these? Now let’s plan to play this little game, say, every month or so until you’ve worked through a few recipes.

Self-Preservation

If you live in a continental climate you may be noticing that the fruits and vegetables available right about now are better-traveled than yourself of late in order to have made it to your local market. So what’s an occasionally determined locavore to do? It’s not too early to start making a plan for the abundance of summer produce. So let’s circle a few dates in the calendar now, and meanwhile brush up on methods of freezing, canning, and pickling so come next winter we can marvel at our colorful and locally stocked pantry.

Myself, the Conqueror

We all have that one culinary thing that undoes us. For me it is pie crust, which I can’t seem to do without copious swearing. My dreams of pastry designs to rival the taut precision of M.C. Escher paintings emerge from the oven like droopy swatches from Salvador Dali’s discard pile. For you it might be unevenly cooked omelettes, or cakes that resemble famously leaning landmarks, or steaks that always come off the grill having rounded the corner on medium well. Whatever it is, I say we take it head on this year, regularly subjecting ourselves to the unavoidable angst with as much alternate nostril breathing as is necessary, until just maybe, we’ve practiced enough so that the thing is no longer our undoing.

Rise to the Occasion

You really should make bread from scratch this year. At least one loaf. Nothing crazy. Not the kind of operation that might cause you to start referring to your own micro-kitchen as “the hearth.” Just begin with a simple loaf, with care and patience taken at all steps, whose aroma makes you feel as though you have created the very concept of nourishment itself. Maybe serve it up sliced alongside a crock of chili or mushroom barley soup, and it will be the greatest thing since…well, since sliced bread.

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