According to the press release, "Epicure is a food brand specialised in high quality ingredients, which has based its philosophy on the pleasure of good food. It recently developed its Creative Cooks range which offers innovative products for chefs, budding cooks and anyone who is keen to experiment in the kitchen." That sounds absolutely perfect for me - I love cooking from scratch but I don't always have the ingredients at hand or the time so shortcuts are always great news. Even Delia Smith cheats so as a working mum-of-three, I'm definitely allowed to !
One of the products that I was recently sent to review was their latest development, a range of wine reductions. As they explain : "Epicure’s unique wine reductions can be used in a variety of ways to add intense, rich flavours to dishes, from meats and casseroles to fish, salad dressings and soups. By taking the finest premium quality ingredients and reducing them down to create a full bodied flavour, the reductions require little preparation, allowing everyone to create inspirational meals."
Now, I may be married to a Frenchman but I'm not a great wine buff, so I'm not totally sure which wines would be best suited to which ingredients. I know white wine goes with fish and seafood and full-bodied reds with red meat, but that's about as far as it goes. I don't know my Merlot from my elbow or my Chianti from my sparkling Perry ! It was therefore a bit of potluck when I squeezed one of the sachets into my hastily assembled beef bourguignon in the slow cooker before heading off to work. I didn't even have any wine available so I used the wine reduction to totally replace the 1/2 bottle of red wine I usually add.
As soon as I turned the key in the lock, I knew we were onto a winner. It's always lovely - especially on a freezing cold, drizzly day - to come back to a warm house smelling of a delicious, ready-to-eat dinner but this time, there was an extra depth to the aroma wafting out of the kitchen which smelt like I was walking into a restaurant. The addition of the wine reduction instead of wine was the only change I made to the usual recipe but the flavour was much more intense and rich. Even the Madhouse Daddy commented on it being really good and he's French for goodness sake !
The Epicure Creative Cooks Wine Reduction range includes five flavours: Madeira & Lamb, Muscat & Saffron, Vermouth & Chicken, Chianti & Porcini and Merlot & Fine Herbs. They add some real wow-factor to your homemade meals and sauces and I really can't wait to try out the rest of the range.
star rating : 5/5
RRP £2.29 for a 120g sachet
available at Asda
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Hi Cheryl, these wine reductions sound great can you tell me which one you used?
ReplyDeleteI used Chianti & Porcini in the beef bourguignon and added Vermouth & Chicken to liven up a chicken casserole. They're all lovely and have cooking suggestions on them.
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