What is your favorite item to cook with Port in the recipe?

[Roy Hersh]

First, what is the item and secondly, what type of Port do you use?

[Moses Botbol]

Pork Shoulder or Boston Butt, if does not matter which port. Nothing too expensive.

I'll also use Fine Rich Madeira if there's no port I want to sacrifice for the pork.

I mix paprika, allspice, thyme salt/pepper and garlic and then coat the pork. Brown the pork, and braise it with port or madeira.

[Glenn E.]

I have a plaque that reads: "I love to cook with wine! Sometimes I even put it in the food..."

In my kitchen, Port is for drinking. Wine is for cooking.

Though that's probably because I just haven't found a recipe yet that really demands that I pour my precious Port somewhere other than down my throat.

[Frederick Blais]

Deglace(correct word) your steak with half onze of port or wine and it gives fantastic flavours.

Cooking with quality wine/port does give quality flavours do your meal and it makes all the difference.

I do like to put VP or LBV in a season fruit reduction that I put over my savoie bread with a piece of dark chocolate, everyone loves it!

[Derek T.]

1. Fillet Steak with a glass of Port.
2. Tuna Steak with a glass of Port
3. Spag Bol with a glass of Port
4. Roast Duck with a glass of Port
5...have I understood the question correctly?

[Jan-Tore Egge]

1. Port jelly on a game terrine.
2. Deglazing the pan as described above.
3. Port in a morel sauce (but it tends to get very rich).

I can't say I use port a lot for cooking, though. Finding one that's not too expensive for cooking, is difficult in a country with a very high alcohol duty, but ideally I would use an inexpensive ruby. I don't buy that very often, preferring instead to drink tawnies and vintage ports.

[Andy Velebil]

I'm not the best of cooks, but I like to make a Port reduction sauce with mushrooms to go with a steak.

[Scott Anaya]

Same as Andy, a Port (tawny) mushroom ragout reduction sauce to go over steak, pork chops, or fried chicken,

I use a cheap Aussie Penfolds little "p" port for this, or whatever other tawny 10yrs and under that is open.

Saute fresh mushrooms in butter with garlic, onions or shallots, salt and pepper when browned, add a generous splash of vermouth and cook off, then add a generous helping of tawny port and reduce....salting and pepper to taste. can reduce like this or add cream for a more blanc type sauce......reduce until thick.

[Glenn E.]

I made my first Port reduction this weekend...

1 cup Port (I used a tawny because it was open, but I suspect a ruby would be better)
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 T minced garlic
2 T dijon mustard
1 T thyme
2 T butter, divided
1 T flour
1 t salt
1 t black pepper

Bring the Port and beef broth to a boil in a pan and reduce to about 1 cup. In a separate pan, sweat the onions and garlic in 1 T butter. When the onions start to turn translucent, add in the reduced liquid, the dijon mustard, and the thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat.

Make a roué from the remaining 1 T butter and the flour. Slowly add the roué to the sauce mixture, stirring briskly to avoid lumps. Add the salt and pepper.

I served it over filet mignon along with some garlic herb roasted potatoes and it was great!

[Marc J.]

Duck with a Port wine glaze. I have a recipie for this that is mouth-watering!

Marc

[JacobH]

I quite like a Port Zabaglione. The standard method is to beat one egg yoke, per person, with some sugar, until it becomes pale. Then put it on a double boiler and add about a shot-glass of wine per yoke and beat it until it increases in volume. I think the best type of wine is a mixture of half Marsala and half Ruby port. The port makes it go an attractive pink and gives a subtle taste of fruit which is often missing when using Marsala on its own. Alternatively, you can use a tawny port on its own, which will have much the same effect as just using Marsala.

[Roy Hersh]

Jacob,

I like your suggestion and will definitely try this in the future.

I know that this might sound crazy, but I love to add a ruby reserve Port to my pasta sauce. After cooking off some garlic in olive oil and adding both tomato paste and crushed pomodoro tomatoes, adding some salt, pepper, oregano and a glass of Port early in the simmering of the sauce, really adds some extra zestiness. Of course you can also use Chianti, Barbera, Dolcetto or Valpolicella ... but I prefer a glass of Port to balance off the tart acidity of the tomatoes.

[Todd Pettinger]

Roy,

I typically add a glass (or three) of Port to my Spag sauces as well...

even when we are rushed and have to resort to a canned sauce, some Port added zests it up :)

[Jay Powers]

A couple of favorites for me:

Duck confit with dried cherries soaked in port, served with a sauternes or older reisling auslese

Port reduction with steak. After searing the steaks in a pan with oil (the steaks are finished in the oven at 450), I add some butter to the pan with chopped shallots. When the shallots are golden, add some port (whatever is handy, but I most often use a ruby that I keep around in the fridge for this purpose). The port deglazes the pan, then add some demiglace, black pepper, and reduce. I reduce so that there's not much liquid left, and primarily what you have is the shallots in a very thick sauce. Top your steaks with fried shallots, and serve the reduction on the side or directly on top. It's one of my favorite meals, served with a CA cab or Bordeaux blend, or Bordeaux.

Jay

[Glenn E.]

I'm going to experiment this evening with scallops browned in a garlic & butter sauce, then simmered in some Sandeman 20-yr old Tawny. I'll let you all know how it goes!

[Roy Hersh]

Derek wrote:

2. Tuna Steak with a glass of Port

When I lived in Colorado the second time around, I owned a restaurant on the outskirts of Boulder, adjacent to the Boulder Country Club. When I took over, it was a steak and potatoes clubby feeling restaurant with a golf motif that I converted into a fresh seafood restaurant with exotics flown in from Hawaii and serious poundage of fresh loins of Ahi too (also some fresh fish came from FL and the Gulf by Plaquemines Parish 40 miles south of NO.

I had two great recipes for tuna on the menu, one a great steak preparation and the other a Hawaiian Poke which was a delicious sashimi grade, spicy raw appetizer. But the tuna steak was one of our best selling menu items, due to the Port demi-glaze that I taught our chef to make. We grilled the tuna for a few moments and then finished it in a pan with some reserved Port reduction that was reheated and right before it started to smoke, we placed the steak in the midst of the Port demi and left a glaze on the outside of both sides of the seared tuna, still raw inside. Although this will sound hokie, we served a lightly chilled Plum wine with each serving. Believe it or not, it was a great pairing and was quite popular back in the late '80s.

[Marc J.]

I've found that Port & duck are a great combination. I have a recipe for duck with a Port wine glaze that is mouthwatering. Although I must admit that I am intrigued by the Seared Scallops & Port recipe that was recently posted in the Forum.

Marc

[Todd Pettinger]

Marc - please share! That sounds like a great pairing (Duck with Port glaze.)

[Carlos Rodriguez]

I do like pork loin with Port reduction. And I like it with old twany.

[Moses Botbol]

Pork, followed by horse or beef. I'd eat my own hand with port reduction...

I cold smoked beef chuck, stuffed it with garlic, thyme, allspice & hot paprika and then braised it in a cup of port. Came out pretty darn tasty.