BOO-YAH! Cheap wine for cooking.

I have issues when it comes to cooking with wine. I love putting booze in damn near everything (remember, the only thing lawyers like more than suing people is getting drunk), however, it tears me up inside to dump the contents of a $10 bottle into a slow cooker or Dutch oven. But, on the other hand, any good chef lives by the mantra, "if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it."

I have found a great, cheap brand of wine that is perfect for cooking, and isn't bad for drinking: Golden Gate. Jewel carries it, and it typically retails for $5.99 a bottle, but every time I've been to Jewel, it's been on sale for $2.99 a bottle. I've seen cabernet, merlot, chardonnay and pinot grigio. I try to have a couple bottles of the cab and the pinot grigio on hand at that price.

Perfect for cooking, good for drinking and easy on your wallet. High five.

Stuff I Like

I will fully admit to being a brand snob about some things, Bloody Mary mixes being top of the list. Some taste like V8 and have no spiciness at all. Others are spicy, but in a liquified salsa sort of way. It's hard to find a great mix that has a good tomato flavor with the right amount of seasonings, Worcestershire and horseradish. I always ask at brunch what brand the restaurant uses so as not to, GASP, consume shitty Mrs. T's.

Behold the most glorious Bloody Mary mix of all time: Zing Zang.



Zing Zang is perfectly spicy without being too hot, and it doesn't taste like salsa. You can see all of the spices that are in it floating around in the bottle. It's really the only acceptable mix that you can buy.

In other news, Harry and David makes this tomato pepper relish that makes an amazing, easy dip.



Simply use a hand mixer to blend a whole jar of the relish with an 8 ounce package of cream cheese. Serve with salty tortilla chips. It's sweet and spicy. It's easy enough to keep the ingredients on hand in case of a party emergency.

Pimp My Microplane

If you are a wannabe chef like me, you MUST own a Microplane (or two, or three).

Seriously, these things are the shit.

The fine grater will take care of zesting lemons and grating ginger. The coarse grater will make light work of grating hard cheeses and chocolate, and apparently can even grate potatoes (I have yet to verify this). The medium ribbon grater is good for softer cheeses.

The traditional Microplane works well for the "fine" grater, but if you are looking to buy a medium ribbon or coarse grater, I would recommend the "paddle" versions for greater stability. These bitches is sharp! Wouldn't want to shred your knuckles into that high quality parmesan!

Get yours at Williams-Sonoma (aka Mecca). They also carry them at Crate and Barrel, Sur la Table and other places like a certain department store formerly known as Marshall Field's that I refuse to patronize.