How I Cook

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food. -- Julia Child or W.C. Fields, depending on who you ask.



I love that quote. Most evenings find me in my kitchen, apron on, cutting board in front of me and a glass of wine near at hand. More often than not, that wine never finds its way into the food. For me, a glass of wine coupled with the familiar tasks of washing, slicing and sautéing are rather cathartic.

Tonight's pairing is a favorite Beaujolais and a fast, easy and delicious stand-by of roasting chicken sausage with whatever vegetables are at hand. For our large family, I cut up two packages of precooked chicken sausage into bite-size pieces and toss in a 9x12 pan with red potatoes, vegetables (tonight's line-up consists of various colored peppers and a red onion), olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook until fork tender.

Now, here is the really critical part: make sure you save some wine so that after you've thrown the pan in the oven you can sit back, relax and enjoy whatever variety of wine you've chosen with, if you're lucky, nothing but the heavenly aromas that will soon be escaping from your oven to keep you company.