Kitchen & Bar

On this phone

How to get around

The bar under the name is the map. Swipe it sideways if a destination sits off-screen. On Tonight, the button pinned to the bottom cooks the lead dish.

  1. Tonight — What you can cook first, plus drinks that fit the same shelf.

  2. This week — Five dinners from the shelf, urgent things cooked first.

  3. Shelf — Edit what you actually own.

  4. Written methods — Every dish and drink with a method somebody wrote out.

  5. The pantry — Start from one ingredient: what it does, and everything built on it.

  6. Out of it — What to use instead, judged by the job the missing thing was doing.

  7. Photo review — Review a demo shelf photo and confirm every item before adding it.

  8. Flavor Lab — Pairings with a track record: classic matches and the mixology behind them.

  9. Wild cards — Combinations with no tradition behind them, only shared aroma notes.

  10. Send to Occasion OS — Prepare confirmed shelf availability for Occasion OS.

  11. The field — The gap this layer owns.

Keep it on the home screen

  1. iPhone — tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Android — open the browser menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.

After that it opens as Kitchen & Bar, not a browser tab. Inventory stays on this device.

Substitutions · 9 dishes here use it

Out of red wine

Tannin and depth for anything long and savory. It needs time to lose its raw edge, so it goes in early and reduces — splashed in at the end it tastes sharp and thin.

Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.

1 of the 9 dishes here that mention red wine list it as optional — 11% of them. In those, the correct substitution is nothing.

What to reach for

Instead · 1

stock plus a splash of red wine vinegar

the same volume of stock, a teaspoon of vinegar per half cup

What it gets you
The liquid and the acid, which is what a braise was using it for.
What it costs you
The tannin, the fruit and the color, all of which matter in a long cook.

Instead · 2

dark beer or stout

one for one

What it gets you
A dark, malty, faintly bitter liquid that braises beef and onions beautifully.
What it costs you
The fruit, replaced by roast and hops, and bitterness concentrates hard on reduction.

Instead · 3

pomegranate or tart cherry juice with a splash of vinegar

one for one, a teaspoon of vinegar per half cup

What it gets you
Color, fruit acid and tannin without alcohol.
What it costs you
Sweetness arriving in quantity, so the dish needs less of anything else sweet.

Where you can just leave it out · 1

These dishes list red wine as optional. They were written to work without it, so no ratio is needed and nothing has to be bought.

Where the swap will be tasted · 6

These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer, which makes red wine a quarter of what is in the pan. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.

Check what else is in the pan

The company red wine keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.

What to make with red wineRank what I can actually cookAll substitutions