SBD Frequently Asked Questions - Wine Wine Wine...

Morning Ladies... Getting ready for a Great Weekend - And, trying to plan out my cooking path :)

So - Does anyone know WHY "Sherry Wine" is not allowed on the SBD plan - Is Marsala Wine also disallowed? If you can have Red and White Wine, what is the difference with the cooking wines?

Also, does anyone have a decent substitute for cooking with Sherry?

Please let me know...

Thanks....

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

I'm not sure what the official answer is but I have to admit that I still cook with sherry sometimes.

Those wines are sweeter and have a higher alcohol content that red and white table wines.

Good morning ... Depending on what you're cooking, you might be able to use a less-dry white wine such as a reisling or maybe sauvignon blanc. For a more intense flavor, a less-dry red wine might work but could affect the color of what you're making. You may need to experiment and see what works for you as a substitute. ;) Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback - I think I'll try subbing out the Sherry for the Reisling - I'll let you know how it works :)

I haven't substituted in desserts, but I often replace cooking sherry with white wine - usually a dry one, not sweet, as it seems to suit savory dishes better. I like to use pinot grigio/gris for a lot of cooking.

Pinot Grigio is a great wine to cook with. Whether it's allowed or not I still use it sometimes. It works out to 2 or 3 recipes a month and only about a tablespoon or so per serving so I'm not worried about it. Plus most of the alcohol burns off anyway. I would watch the sweeter wines though since they might leave more sugars behind. Sherry I would use but not Marsala. I love cooking with wine even though I'd never drink a glass. I just never developed the taste for it straight but it makes food taste wonderful.

Several of the phase 2 recipes in the original and new cookbooks use sherry.

Sherry, port, marsala are all fortified wines - meaning that after they ferment (yeast eats sugar leaving alcohol), they have additional fruit or even sugar added to give them sweetness, or an additional fermentation with residual sugars. Dry reds and whites (cab, merlot, zin, pinot grigio, chard, sauv blanc, gervurtz, reisling, etc) are OK in P2 because they're fermented to 0 residual sugars (but still have carbs due to the alcohol) - the recipes with sherry and marsala in P2 have very limited quantities (< 1/4 C in an entire recipe -usually 1-2 TB). It's equivalent (in my estimation) to F/F half an half that has corn syrup in it.