The Unexpected Alcohol You Need To Try Braising Chicken In

One of Julia Child's most famous dishes might be her recipe for coq au vin. This classic French dish is made by braising chicken in wine. Any wine works, but Child said that a fine French red worked the best. While it might be common to cook with wine, beer, and liquors, one alcohol that often gets overlooked is vermouth.

Vermouth is simply a wine that's been fortified with a neutral spirit, and infused with a variety of herbs, botanicals, and aromatics. This means that vermouth will still have the same characteristics of your favorite cooking wine as a backbone, but with the additional complexity of the other elements that have been added. Vermouth can be substituted in equal parts for any recipe that would call for wine. In the case of the coq au vin, you can easily substitute your favorite wine for flavorful vermouth to add a new, herbaceous quality to the dish.

Child herself even noted the wonderful ability to cook with vermouth in her book, "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom." She says she prefers dry white vermouth to overly acidic white wines in many recipes, and also that the bottles are typically kept better thanks to the addition of spirits.

Just like finding a good cooking wine, it's important to know the flavors of your vermouth before adding them to your favorite recipe. There are three main branches of vermouth: sweet or red vermouth, bianco vermouth, and dry vermouth.

Sweet vermouth is the style used in Manhattans and negronis and acquires its color from the caramelized sugar that also gives it much of its flavor. Bianco vermouth is more often clear, if not slightly golden, and is typically between the other two styles in terms of sweetness. Dry vermouth is the style most often used in martinis and is fittingly dry and astringent compared to the other varieties. Within these three styles though there is still tons of room for variation.

There's no single grape or botanical mixture that defines vermouth, and so there is often significant variation between different manufacturers. Vermouth has been having a bit of a comeback, and so the number of bottles at the liquor store is growing. This means it may take some experimentation to match the right vermouth to the right recipe, but following the three main styles will help narrow things down a bit.

Dry vermouth will have similar characteristics to the types of wines used to cook chicken, but try and find something softer that won't be overwhelmingly potent. Floral and citrusy vermouths make the best flavor complement to the chicken.

One quality of vermouth that's worth being aware of when choosing your braising liquid is bittering agents. Some vermouths make use of bittering agents like quinine and wormwood (which is actually where the name vermouth comes from). While these might add a nice complexity to your martini, they may be overwhelming when slow-braising chicken thighs.

Braising is a low-and-slow cooking method. That means that the cooking liquid may reduce during the process as the water cooks off and evaporates. This will amplify the flavors of the cooking liquid, and so starting with an intense vermouth may make the final product too intense.

This can also be countered by seasoning throughout the cooking process. As one element starts to become overwhelming, you can counter it with something else.

Also, don't forget to use spices. Just because your vermouth is bringing some of the herbal, earthy notes that you want in your dish doesn't mean that it has to do all the work. Cinnamon, cloves, or star anise can all pair well with floral and citrusy notes that will further boost your vermouth braised chicken.