PrintSubstitute for Sherry?
I'm making Bourdain's mushroom soup (from the email a few days ago) and I don't really want to buy sherry for it as I rarely use it.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a substitute? Obviously it adds a lot of flavour so I'd prefer not to substitute broth.
Just as a reminder:
Bourdain's Mushroom Soup
6 tablespoons butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
12 ounces button mushrooms, halved
4 cups chicken stock
1 sprig parsley
2 ounces sherry
salt and pepper
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11 Comments:
Cognac.
Or a dry-ish white... but that won't be as powerful a flavor.
(Now Bourdain is going to find me and knife me in a dark alleyway). :D
jpolk at 10:20AM on 02/08/08
A good (unflavored) brandy. If you purchase a bottle of brandy it will, of course, keep forever and you will find so many uses for it in your kitchen. When I say "good", I mean you can get a decent bottle for $10-$15 or pick one up at Trader Joe's.
Dry vermouth is also a great thing to keep around to substitute for the alcoholic kick you need in some dishes. Keeps forever also.
frederika at 11:01AM on 02/08/08
if you live near a trader joe's, you can buy a bottle of perfectly good sherry for cooking for $4.99.
cybercita at 12:10PM on 02/08/08
Some subs would be apple juice or apple cider. Or 1 or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract per 2 tablespoons of sherry.
But if you decide to use actual Sherry you can probably get it from your grocery store for $5 (not just TJ's) and it lasts a pretty long time.
Enjoy your soup!
bobcatsteph3 at 12:45PM on 02/08/08
I agree if you like to steer-clear of alcohol all together (not me, my mother); fruit juices can be really appealing used in the right way :)
hungrychristel at 7:43PM on 02/08/08
dry Vermouth.
JerzeeTomato at 8:15PM on 02/08/08
The very first thing I thought of was cognac, as mentioned by jpolk. In fact, I've never tried the recipe, but in reading it over, my "instincts" say that the cognac might actually be (blasphemy) better than the sherry. Of course, my instincts are not professionally trained, so hey... It's just that cognac has such an amazing affinity for mushrooms. If you do go that route, though, please consider that you may need to adjust the amount, as I believe it will impart a significantly more noticeable flavor than sherry would.
Jerzee's vermouth suggestion sounds pretty interesting, too. Seems to me like it would work.
LoCo at 8:27PM on 02/08/08
You could mix apple cider with dry white wine -- but to me the flavor of sherry is pretty distinct. I have a bottle of cooking sherry in the fridge that I bought about 5 months ago (for chicken pot pie) -- I used it again last week and it was fine. I think you're better off doing that (and then make chicken pot pie! There's a fabulous recipe in Mitchell Davis's book "Kitchen Sense").
CookiePie at 2:12PM on 02/09/08
I keep a bottle of brandy and a bottle of dry vermouth in my pantry. I use them in place of cognac, sherry and wine if the recipe calls for any of them and I'm out, and both are wonderful to deglaze a pan. If any alcohol remains, it is miniscule. Of course, if I have an open bottle of wine, (great excuse to open one! haha). or happen to have armagnac on hand.......go with the best. Just never, ever, ever use the non-alcoholic cooking wine/sherry from the grocery store. Chicken broth or apple cider are better than either.
PerkyMac at 2:21PM on 02/09/08
The suggestions of cider bring to mind another option. A dry hard cider could probably work. And you get to drink the rest of the bottle while the soup simmers! Yum!
LoCo at 2:32PM on 02/09/08
I agree with @PerkyMac about not using those non-alcoholic cooking wine/sherry products from the grocery store. Your're query doesn't imply you are averse to using alcohol, just what would be a good substitute for sherry. So, I would have to chime in with the other suggestions of brandy/cognac/armagnac. Keep in mind that in addition to the flavor of the chosen spirit, there are certain flavor components which are alcohol soluble, ergo...
wookie at 2:44PM on 02/09/08