Alcohol Substitutions for Fast and Slow Instant Pot Recipes
My son received Milk Street's Fast and Slow as a gift and is eager to make many recipes. Unfortunately, many call for alcohol, and we are an alcohol-free home. I have spent some time googling and am skeptical of the suggestions. For example, substituting vermouth with apple juice. Any mention of dilution is pretty vague with no amounts (e.g., water with lemon juice). I was hoping you could help with some specific substitutions for the following:
3/4 cup dry white wine in Pasta All'amatriciana (p. 117)
1/2 cup white vermouth in Vermouth-braised Chicken and Potatoes with Fennel (p. 170)
2 cups dry red wine in Tuscan Beef and Black Pepper Stew (p. 233)
1 cup dry red wine in Colombian Savory-sweet Braised Beef (p. 274)
1/4 cup dry red wine in Braised beef (p. 266)
1 cup dry white wine Chicken en cocotte with wine (p. 174)
1/2 cup dry sherry in Chicken soup with sherry (p. 148)
1 cup dry red wine Coriander-braised pork with wine (p. 213)
1 cup dry white wine in French beef or lamb stew with wine (p. 251)
1 cup dry red wine in Short rib ragu with wine (p. 269)
There are many more recipes with alcohol so if you have any rules of thumb for the types you use most often in recipes I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Comments
As a general substitution, I would recommend purchasing a bottle of verjus. Verjus is a great alternative to wine since it is the pressed juice of unripened grapes. (It comes from the French, “vert jus,” which means green juice.) It can be used in a 1:1 substitution. This would be the closest flavor profile to wine.
For white wine, you could also use a combination of water and lemon juice with a little honey. For example, in a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of wine, I'd add 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and a squirt of honey. It's not an exact science. A similar combination of beef broth and a little vinegar or lemon juice can mimic the flavor of red wine -follow the same proportions as mentioned above for the water/lemon juice combo. For sherry, apple cider combined with sherry vinegar can be used as a substitute. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.
Thank you!