Wine in Shepherd's Pie

Mushroom ketchup has gluten in as does Lee and Perrins. Yorkshire relish is the gf alternative. Redcurrant jelly and wine add an awful lot - try it!!

Yes that is also good, had forgotten that.

4 sleeps , whey hey !!

Mushroom ketchup is a good alternative, too!

Just wonder why you are putting red wine in? Don"t think it really adds a lot !

For Ummph I put in Lea and Perrins !!

Here is a re-hab web site that discusses this very problem. In short, a dish cooked with wine will retain 75% > 85% of the original alcohol, enough to upset a recovering alcoholic.

alcoholrehab.com/alcoholism/food-and-alcohol/

You could even buy an individual MS shepherds pie kitty, give yourself a bit of a break. But, as you said, you're a woman, you can do this!

Nothing wrong with bought mash, kitty. Tesco's Maris Piper mash with cornish butter is delicious!

If I don't get off GNet the DGDs will be having deconstructed jerseys for Christmas.

Or you could just serve them savoury mince and potatoes and call it a Deconstructed Shepherd's Pie.

Ok, I have a dreadful confession here! I lavished huge care on slow cooking the mince but they are topped with bought mash!!

If you have a slow cooker you could throw it all in together, then just mash some potatoes (they'll never know that the other ones were made with such lavish care and attention)

You will feel a lot more relaxed if you do Kitty then you won't be at all worried that you might be doing harm. Good for your soul!

Looks like I'm going to have to 'rustle one up' then! I'm a woman - I can do it!! . Serves me right for trying to be organised!!

I think so Kitty - there can never be a guarantee that the alcohol is completely gone and in any case it may just not be what they would like to have in their meal. I bet your cooking is delicious without it.

DiL read up on this when she was pregnant and later when breastfeeding and refused anything with alcohol in as she said it does not all cook off.

I know a recovering alcoholic and I would never give them anything with any alcohol in and think it a small matter to make up another one. I go out of my way to find non-alcoholic alternative drinks to serve too. M & S has a fizzy one in a champagne type bottle.

delicious even

It sounds delidious - what time are you serving it?

(posse of hungry Gnetters at the door)

My 5lb of mince was slow cooked on the hob for about 3 hours after frying with onions, carrot and celery and tinned toms, tomato puree, redcurrant jelly, Yorkshire relish and thyme, bay leaves and anything else that seemed worth while throwing in by that stage. It also had stock and red wine. I think I'll play safe!!

I recently made slow cooked beef short ribs with wine and beef stock in the sauce. It certainly tasted 'winey' when it was served. I was always given to understand that the alcohol was burned off in the cooking, but I can't be certain, except to say that there was half a bottle in my casserole and no-one seemed to suffer any inebriating effects! It was b****y delicious! If you deglaze the pan the meat is cooked in with the wine and let it bubble fiercely, that is supposed to boil off all the alcohol.

Looks like it bags, better safe than sorry, flipping gecko!

From this article, it looks as if you are fine as long as you don't know it is in there.

www.rehabs.com/how-can-you-avoid-the-dreaded-holiday-freelapse/

Because it generates a feeling of 'might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb'.

If all that's true (no references, I noticed), then blimmin' 'eck, kitty, you're going to have to make another pie.

It wouldn't be fair to give them any alcohol, better safe than sorry.

I think I would make a separate one for them, flavoured with redcurrant jelly or tomato paste.

It does take a lot of boiling for the alcohol to be boiled off (as I found when I was following a recipe for boeuf bourguignon which I was going to feed to children as well).

A BBC recipe says it dissipates in about a minute, but I heard it took about 20 minutes of boiling. However, this link suggests it is much longer:

www.ochef.com/165.htm

@kittylester - There's no way to make it revert to its un-fermented state!
Which implies that much of the natural sugars will be gone (presumably into the now evaporated alcohol).