Even though I rarely drink at home, I still have a healthy bar cart, full of liquor bottles I acquired back when I imbibed. I do not, however, have wine lying around. This wouldn’t be an issue, except I love deglazing my pans.
There’s a romantic quality to splashing wine into a hot pan and scraping up all the little browned bits, but it’s also the foundation of a good pan sauce. You can technically deglaze with any liquid—even water—but if you aren’t using booze, it’s hard to do better than a mixture of Coca-Cola and red wine vinegar. I’m calling the resulting pan sauce “coke ‘n vin,” because the French are going to love it.
I realize this sounds silly—childish even—but the flavor is there, and it is good. The resulting sauce is tangy, sweet, and surprisingly nuanced, thanks to all the stuff that goes into Coca-Cola. (The makers of the beverage are cagey about the exact ingredients, but it is thought to contain vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and lemon, orange, and lavender essential oils.) When combined with red wine vinegar, you get a complete deglazing liquid that reduces down into a balanced, delicious sauce. Even if I was still drinking wine, I’d make room in my menu planning for this sauce.
How to make a pan sauce with Coca-Cola and vinegar
It’s easy to make. Combine three parts Coca-Cola and one part red wine vinegar in a measuring cup. (Is Pepsi OK? Never.) Open the Coke ahead of time and let it go flat (if you remember); if you don’t have time for that, just stir it around to drive out some of the carbonation.
Sear and cook your meats and/or vegetables as usual in a stainless steel pan. I don’t recommend nonstick, because you want all those little browned bits that stick to the pan; I don’t recommend cast iron, because the acid in the vinegar can strip away the seasoning (and a little metal). Transfer your cooked food to a plate and any excess grease to a cup or small bowl, then add your mixture of Coke and vinegar to your pan, scraping the little browned bits (called “fond”) with a wooden spoon. From here, you can let the liquid reduce into a glaze.
If you want to make a thick, luscious sauce, pour the deglazing liquid out of the pan, add your grease back in, and sprinkle in a little flour to make a roux. (You want a roughly equal amount. Just eyeball it. If you don’t have pan grease, use a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of flour.) Cook the flour in the butter for a couple of minutes, then whisk your deglazing liquid back in. Serve the rich, sweet and sour sauce immediately, with whatever steak, chop, or vegetable you desire.