Seasonal Pantry: Ditch the balsamic and try red wine vinegar

Vinegar is a pantry staple, of course, essential in many vinaigrettes and used today to make shrubs, a vintage beverage currently enjoying a renaissance, including locally. (For shrub recipes from the Seasonal Pantry archives, visit “Eat This Now” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.)

Yet in recent years, some of our best vinegars have been overlooked, as balsamic vinegar has soared in popularity.

“Enough already!” chef John Ash declared a few months ago when asked what he thought of its use and, possibly, overuse.

Balsamic vinegar has its place ,but it always contributes a sweet element, which can make the palate grow weary, as it eclipses other ingredients. If its your default vinegar, you might be pleased to take a fresh look at other options.

In the fall and winter, rich red wine vinegars - O’s zinfandel vinegar, for example, and B. R. Cohn’s cabernet sauvignon vinegar - add distinctive and delicious flavors to soups, stews, appetizers, and more.

Today’s recipes rely on these suave vinegars, with acidity hovering around 6 percent maximum, for their unique flavors and luscious textures.

My advice is to push the balsamic to the back of the cupboard and make room for a few others. You’ won’t be disappointed.

Here is one of the simplest appetizers imaginable; it takes about a minute to prepare.

It is surprisingly delicious, even if you think you don’t like anchovies.

The vinegar transforms them.

Enjoy this with a rustic red wine.

Anchovies in Red Wine Vinegar

Serves 3 to 4

1 small tin of anchovies

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1/3-½ cup red wine vinegar

- Hearth bread, preferably sourdough

Put the anchovies and garlic into a small bowl and add enough vinegar to cover generously.

Set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat the hearth bread and set it in a basket.

Serve right away, with small plates and small forks. Guests tear off a piece of bread, dip it in the vinegar, lift out an anchovy and put it on top of the bread.

On Tuesdays, Oliver’s Market on Stony Point Road receives one grass-fed beef heart. The butcher trims it, slices it and packages it in manageable sizes, typically just under or just over a pound. If you’re very lucky, there will be some left if you shop in the evening. If you want to be certain to get some, call and ask for it to be held for you.

For years, it was hard to find anything other than whole beef heart, let alone grass fed. Now that smaller portions are available, it is easy to enjoy this delicious South American dish, from Peru and Bolivia, which relies upon vinegar for its signature flavor.

Anticuchos (Marinated & Grilled Beef Heart)

Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer

1 pound sliced beef heart (see Note below)

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

3 garlic cloves, crushed and minced

1 serrano, seeded and minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled

1/2 cup red wine vinegar, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons dried Hontaka chiles, seeded

6-12 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

1 tablespoon pumpkin seed oil or mild olive oil

Put the sliced heart into a large glass bowl or baking dish, season all over with salt and pepper, and set aside. Set the heart on a clean work surface, trim it of veins, arteries and excess fat and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Put the cubes into a large glass bowl and set aside.

Put the garlic, serrano, cumin and oregano into a small bowl, stir, and sprinkle the mixture over the meat, turning the meat until it is evenly coated. Pour the vinegar over it, adding more if needed to cover the meat completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and as long as 24 hours; turn the meat now then.

Shortly before grilling, prepare a fire in an outdoor grill or preheat a stovetop grill.

Remove the marinating meat from the refrigerator and thread it onto skewers. Pour the marinade in a sauce pan, set over medium heat and simmer gently until reduced by half.

Meanwhile, remove the stems from the dried chiles, shake out any seeds and put the chilies into a bowl.

Cover with warm water for 30 minutes, drain and transfer to a suribachi or mortar. Add the oil and use a wooden pestle to grind into a thick paste. Add the reduced marinade, stir well, taste and correct for salt. Pour into a bowl.

Set the skewers on the grill, cook for 2 minutes, turn, and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer to a serving platter, brush all over with a little more sauce and serve right away, with the remaining sauce alongside for dipping.

Orleans, located in the Loire Valley west of Paris, France, was once known as the vinegar capital of the world, as hot summers guaranteed a portion of the region’s wine would turn into vinegar.

Eventually, producers codified the process, now known as the Orleans method and considered one of the best methods for producing premium vinegar. This dish has its roots in the region.

Chicken au Vinaigre

Serves 4 to 6

4-6 chicken leg-thigh pieces

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

4 tablespoons butter

6 garlic cloves, unpeeled

4 tablespoons fresh snipped chives

4 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley

3/4 cup red wine vinegar, 6 percent acidity

2 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper.

Put the butter in a large, heavy skillet set over medium heat, add the chicken, and sauté until it is evenly browned all over. Add the whole garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes, turning it frequently; do not let it burn.

Sprinkle half the chives and half the parsley over the chicken, reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes, until the juices run clear when pricked with a bamboo skewer.

Transfer the chicken to an oven proof dish and set, covered, in the warm oven.

Turn the heat up under the skillet and add the vinegar, scraping and deglazing the pan quickly. Add the stock and stir in the tomato paste. Simmer, stirring now and then, until the liquid reduces by about two-thirds.

Use the back of a fork to press the pulp out of the garlic cloves, discard the skins, and blend the pulp into the sauce. Strain the sauce and return it to the pan. (You may hold the recipe at this point until accompaniments are ready.) Reduce the heat to low.

To finish, stir in the cream, heat through but do not boil, taste, and correct for salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the sauce, turn each piece to coat it thoroughly, and leave it on gentle heat for 10 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, pour the sauce over it, garnish with the remaining herbs, and enjoy right away.

Michele Anna Jordan is author of the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com and visit her blog at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.