Vinegar brightens more than just salads

For so long, I thought vinegar’s main role in my kitchen was as a mate to olive oil in a vinaigrette. Then I encountered poulet au vinaigre de vin (chicken with wine vinegar) when I studied cooking in Paris.

The simple braise of chicken with vegetables, tomatoes and a lot of vinegar demonstrated how the latter could be more than simply the bright element in a salad. Its sharp edges tamed by boiling and transformed with delicious fat (I might want that as my epitaph!), vinegar became the nervy backbone that elevated chicken stew into a dish that I still make frequently all these years later.

Since my chicken epiphany, I use vinegar with enthusiasm: to brighten a pot of garlicky greens; as a catalyst for unlocking flavor in fruit; as a glaze for meat; even as the heart of a sophisticated soda.

• The vinegars to have on hand: It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the array on any well-stocked store shelves, but I advise you to practice restraint. Vinegar doesn’t really go bad, but I get stressed when my pantry is a-jumble with vinegar bottles, so I try not to have more than about three kinds.

For delicate dishes, I like a white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar. The two have essentially the same character, because the champagne vinegar retains none of the spritz of the champagne, and it might not even have been made from the type of grapes used for true champagne. I like white wine vinegars from producer Martin Pouret, who uses something called the Orl?ans method, which takes more time and effort than most commercial processes.

I like to have a red wine vinegar for more robust uses, though I find that many are slap-you-in-the-face harsh, thin and astringent. My go-to is sherry vinegar, which has an appealingly round, woodsy flavor with hints of caramel and vanilla, yet no sweetness whatsoever. If red wine vinegar is a red vinyl booth in a pizza joint, sherry vinegar is a garnet-colored suede banquette in a restaurant where you hope someone else will pick up the tab. Look for a true Spanish brand with some age on it, such as Pedro Ximenez or one of the wonderful Jose Andres’ vinegars produced by Marchenilla.

Last in my lineup is balsamic, but I type these words with trepidation; rant to follow. Balsamic overuse is rampant in the United States and is somewhat of a minor moral outrage, to me, anyway. A few decades ago, balsamic vinegar wriggled its way into our cooking habits, going from an exquisite, artisanal and expensive product to be enjoyed sparingly — maybe drizzled over shards of Parmigiano-Reggiano — to a ubiquitous sweet brown liquid weighing down salads, too often made from “spring mix” greens.

To be clear: Balsamic vinegar has its place in a salad dressing, but only for green salads that are hardy, such as a warm bacon and fris?e salad.

Overall, there are better places to deploy the caramel notes and syrupy texture of balsamic than on a salad. Really good balsamic is meant to be consumed as its own thing, but there are plenty of good commercial vinegars made in that style, preferably from Modena, which is home to the real thing. I like Colavita brand.

• How to integrate it into your cooking: Drizzle a small spoonful onto a bowl of Swiss chard, kale or collards that you have sauteed in plenty of olive oil or oil and bacon grease.

Macerate the vegetables you’ll use in gazpacho with sherry vinegar, and maybe finish the soup with more vinegar and a generous glug of good olive oil.

Make a simple French potato salad by boiling medium- to low-starch potatoes (such as Yukon Golds), crushing them lightly, and then, while they’re still hot, moistening them with white-wine vinegar. Finish with olive oil and salt and pepper, maybe chopped parsley. The potatoes will drink it up and your salad will be light and zippy.

After cooking pork chops, pour off the grease and deglaze your frying pan with a dose of balsamic. Let it simmer until syrupy then finish with a chunk of cold butter, to create a sauce.

Give a fruit salad a sweet-savory edge by sprinkling it with white wine vinegar. Dress a strawberry salad with balsamic and a pinch of brown sugar.

And, of course, make vinaigrettes. Start with a basic ratio of one part vinegar to three parts oil. Season with lots of salt and then taste and adjust with more oil if it’s too sharp (or more vinegar if it’s not sharp enough). I find that salt can soften the perception of acid in vinegar, so I like to season before I decide whether my vinaigrette is well balanced; pepper can come last.

Chicken Saute With Tomatoes, Pancetta and a Kiss of Vinegar

4 servings. From cookbook author Martha Holmberg.

4 whole chicken legs (about 2 pounds total; may substitute 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs plus 4 drumsticks)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped ( 1/2 cup)

2 ounces pancetta, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, diced or finely chopped ( 1/2 cup)

2 large ribs celery, finely chopped or diced ( 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium fennel bulb, finely chopped or diced ( 1/2 cup; optional)

4 or 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 cup vinegar of your choice, as long as it’s not sweet

One 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (may substitute canned whole peeled tomatoes, chopped)

1 cup low-sodium or homemade chicken broth

Few shakes hot sauce

A few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary

A few parsley stems plus 1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons cold butter (salted or unsalted)

Trim/discard any excess skin or fat from the chicken pieces. Pat dry with paper towels, then season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a heavy skillet that’s large enough to hold all the chicken in one comfortable layer, until shimmering over medium-high heat.

Add the chicken pieces, skin sides down. Reduce the heat to medium, or whatever temperature keeps the chicken quietly sizzling but not crackling or sputtering – you want to take your time with this step to get a nice deep browning without burning. Cook, undisturbed, for about 10 minutes, or until the skin is deep golden brown. (If you are using separate thighs and drumsticks, turn the latter a few times to brown evenly.) Turn the whole legs over and cook for an additional 4 or 5 minutes. Try not to let the pan juices get too dark, as they will add flavor to the dish – if they seem to be heading that direction, reduce the heat.

Transfer the chicken to a plate or tray to hang out for a minute; pour or spoon off the fat from the pan. (Reserve it to use later for cooking potatoes.) Add the remaining oil to the pan plus the onion and pancetta. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the pancetta has rendered its fat and the onion is soft and fragrant. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you cook, to dislodge any chicken bits.

Add the carrot, celery, fennel, if using, and the garlic (to taste), then season lightly with salt and pepper; cook for about 5 minutes, until those vegetables start to soften. Pour the vinegar into the skillet, but stand back as you do it – the vinegar will produce some crazy fumes, so keep your face away from the pan. Let the vinegar cook until it’s reduced by almost half, then add the tomatoes, broth, hot sauce (not enough to make the dish “spicy,” just enough for some sparkle), rosemary and/or thyme, and the parsley stems. Nestle the chicken back into the pan, skin sides up.

Cover the pan; adjust the heat to maintain a gentle bubble until the chicken is cooked all the way through. The temperature of the meat (taken away from the bone) should measure about 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. This should take an additional 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken pieces.

To finish the dish, transfer the chicken to a clean platter. Spoon off any fat from the surface of the sauce, then increase the heat to medium-high so it bubbles vigorously. Cook just until the sauce has thickened and reduced by about one-third. (It will look like a sofrito.) Discard the herb stems. Remove from the heat.

Stir or swirl in the butter, until it has melted and further thickened (emulsified) the sauce. Taste, and season with more salt, pepper and/or hot sauce, as needed.

Pour the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with the chopped parsley.

The ingredients were too variable for a meaningful analysis.