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Sorry, what is leftover wine?
Believe it or not, some people actually stop short of finishing every bottle they open. We’ll leave the debate as to whether or not such a person is to be trusted for another day, but I will say that not polishing off a bottle of Optima takes great willpower.
If you weren’t to drink that leftover wine, what else could you do with it? Food and Wine has an extensive list of options, including making your own red wine vinegar, salad dressing, or jam.
The latter of those is worth a closer look:
Jam on its own? Delicious. Jam with wine in it? Even more delicious. A cup of rosé can be transformed into a summer-ready Peach-Rosé Jam, and Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam makes use of an entire bottle of Beaujolais, should you have an unopened one leftover.
Once your wine jam is done, use it as a topping on a dish like ricotta toast, spread it on a sandwich (like Ham-Jam Sandwiches), or serve it with a cheese and charcuterie board.
Any good cheese and charcuterie board also comes with a side of wine. We’ve come full circle. You’ll find those jam recipes here, which I would consider more of a summer vibe.
For winter, as we get ready to batten down the hatches, I want decadent and I want rich flavours.
Enter the red wine brownie. Yes, we’re also shocked we never thought of it before. Wine Mag with more:
The wine acts in a subtle supporting role, providing fruity tartness to complement the dark chocolate.
…you can use any dry red wine here, though fruit-forward Merlot, Gamay or California red blends are especially welcome…
More important is to reach for an inexpensive or unsentimental bottle, since you’ll sweeten and reduce the wine before stirring it into the batter.
I hasten to call anything produced by Anthonij Rupert Wyne unsentimental, but the Protea range of reds is certainly affordable.
R78 a bottle with the Merlot boasting hints of plum, mulberry, cherry, and blackberry fruit will add a wonderful richness to said brownies.
Once you have your wine sorted, the key is to go for quality dark chocolate with at least 72% cacao content. The full list of ingredients, as well as step-by-step instructions, can be found here.
For those more into a Sunday meatfest (to go with the brownies if you’re really pushing the boat out), flex your cooking muscles with a flavoursome braised short rib potjie.
Don’t ever let a Monday ruin your Sunday. Eat, drink, and be merry.
