One of the ways to add great flavor to dishes and cut down on fat is to cook with wine. When wine is reduced in your dish, it concentrates flavor. When cutting down on the fats used in your cooking, wine is another vehicle for delivering flavor.

Cook with wine that is also drinkable. This way, when you decide on a recipe that requires wine, you should select a wine that is good enough to enjoy drinking. A common mistake that people make is to go to the wine shop and purchase the least expensive red or white they can find. The wine that you will be serving for dinner should complement the food that you are serving so you should cook with the same type of wine you would be serving with the meal.

For those who don't generally keep wine in the house, white vermouth is a good choice for cooking because it is made with a blend if savory herbs. Wine can be used in place of fats, but it can also be added to deglaze a pan that has been used to brown, sear, or caramelize foods prior to creating a sauce. The little bits of food that are stuck to the pan are called fond; these bits are quickly and easily lifted when you add a splash of wine or any liquid to the hot pan. This creates the basis for your sauce and adds a great deal of flavor to the dish. It is also a good idea to remove the pan from the heat while doing this. Research has indicated that 98-99% of alcohol cooks out of the dish.