A bottled wine sauce worth using
Typically, wine is better shown off in a glass than in a sauce, but Vino de Milo makes great use of fermented grape juice. Instead of loading up his sauces with corn syrup, stale dried herbs, and the artificial stuff that passes for flavor in most store-bought sauces, Jonathan Milo Leal uses fresh vegetables, herbs, extra-virgin olive oil, and a splash of wine in his Vino de Milo Gourmet Sauces. The Mediterranean tomato sauce is thick with artichokes, olives and capers and brightened by a dose of citrusy pinot grigio; while shiraz gives the Portobello-tomato sauce a rich, warm glow and merlot warms the earthy, herbal flavors of an eggplant-rich Tuscan sauce. Check out the “simmer sauces” on a cold, hurried night: Cut up an array of vegetables and simmer with the spicy North African Pinot Noir sauce for an ersatz tagine on the fly. Not only are all the sauces free of sugar and preservatives, but Leal donates up to 10 percent of its profits to charities such as Forward Looking, which provides educational scholarships to children in Nepal, where Leal spent time growing up. Vino de Milo Gourmet Sauces, $8.49, are available at Wild Oats or vinodemilo.com.
– Tara Q. Thomas
Chef’s new book helps you take a fantasy tour – or a real one
Looking for an excuse to do some armchair travel or plan a real cooking trip to Europe? Cooking teacher, chef and author Robert Reynolds will read from his new book, “An Excuse to Be Together,” 4-7 p.m. Sunday at the Boulder home of Peggy Markel, who runs Peggy Markel’s Culinary Adventures, and 3 p.m. Feb. 8 at Cook Street School of Fine cooking, 1937 Market St. in Denver. The book combines scenes of French and Italian life gathered from 20 years of leading culinary tours with recipes from the region. Reynolds taught at Cook Street and the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder; he’s now director of education for the Northwest Culinary Forum in Portland, Ore. For more information about Reynolds’ three-month culinary tours, visit nwculinaryforum.org. To RSVP for the Sunday reading at Peggy Markel’s home, send an e-mail to info@peggymarkel.com, or call Reynolds at 503-421-9257. Contact Cook Street at 303-308-9300.
– Kristen Browning-Blas
