I just use broth in those situations. Chicken or vegetable, depending on whether it needs to be vegetarian.

I keep a good dry Portuguese sherry in my liquor cabinet especially for cooking,and I've subbed vermouth for sherry plenty of times. Both keep practically forever.

I think I'd just leave it out if I didn't have any on hand - or maybe use a little white wine?

For those who don't want to buy regular-sized bottles of various alcohols for cooking, visit a large liquor store the next time you get the opportunity, and stock up on the small bottles. Just about anything is available, and it won't hurt to have a small assortment on hand.

"If you don’t have any on hand, there are plenty of viable subs. The most
similar will be other fortified wines like dry vermouth (not sweet), or
madeira—you can use equal amounts of these in place of dry sherry. You
can also use hard apple cider or dry white wine, also in equal amounts,
and while they won’t bring quite the same depth of flavor, they’ll add
sufficient acid and fruity enhancing notes to your dish. A good
non-alcoholic sub would be unfiltered apple cider. Remember, too:
Because we’re usually talking just a tablespoon or two of the stuff, the
substitute won’t make or break the recipe."

From Cooking Light

Well, the likelihood of my getting to a large liquor store is slim to none, so I'm going to go for the broth, which was my first thought before I posted. I have been able to get at Kroger small bottles of wine for occasional recipes that call for a little--I'm just not a drinker and a full bottle would sit around until it spoiled.

Thanks everyone!

I grew up in a household that frequently enjoyed a glass of sherry in the late afternoon......in fact, that was the first taste of liquor I ever experienced. I don't drink it now (or very rarely) but always have a bottle of decent dry sherry around just for cooking. IMO, it imparts a flavor to certain dishes that can't easily be duplicated. Same with marsala and madeira. And being fortified wines, they keep decently after opening, especially when used for cooking purposes.

In a pinch I'd use a white wine.

As for keeping, I think that depends to some extent on where you are. It's always around 80º in my house, sometimes higher in the summer, and even a good sherry isn't very good after being stored a month or so after being opened.

I agree that sherry adds a flavor that nothing else replicates, but recipes are still good with stock.

Even cheap sherry gives that iconic sherry flavor to a cooked dish....and if you buy a cheap bottle and keep it in the coolest place you have you might find lots of other recipes that are made better by a couple of tablespoons of sherry.
My chicken stew recipe calls for a whole cup. You don't know it's ther because you add it with the whole raw chicken, but if you leave it out, you know something is missing.
I would hop down to the store and buy sine sherry....better dry than cream....but cream will do if that's all ther is.

Sherry would definitely provide nice flavor. As sushipup suggested, liquor stores and places like BevMo sell "airplane" size bottles of all kinds of liquor...sherry, for sure.

Personally, I would just add some Herbes de Provence to make up for the difference in flavor. If you do not have that, you could add some thyme. Definitely do not add vinegar.

Just so you know, sherry is a fortified wine and it lasts for years in the cupboard.

I’d buy it. I throw a splash into this or that occasionally, such as stir fries. It’ll disappear in time.

Lars mentioned Herbs de Provence or thyme. Either would be nice with the mushrooms and white beans. I agree it's a good idea to have sherry on hand, and it does last a looooong time.

I always have bottles of sherry, dry vermouth, brandy and rum on hand for cooking -- I use the dry vermouth in place of white wine in recipes (that way I don't have leftover wine) and my sherry lasts for a long time but I do keep it down cellar.

Me too. I keep sherry, port, madeira and marsala near the stove as well as vermouth and brandy where there's the right sized spot for them. They really do hold well at cooking quality for a good while after opening.

There's no good way to substitute for the flavor of sherry, but you can certainly substitute some flavor. There's both a sharpness and an earthiness, so a little acid and a little umami should be fine.

The big question, since it calls from more than a spoonful, is if there is a reason fo it to have alcohol. Alcohol evaporates much faster than water and can affect certain processes. In a gratin it's possible that that helps the gooeyness. 1/3 c. of sherry has about 11 grams of alcohol.

Don't forget that Spain is a very hot country.

I always keep dry sherry on hand but just ran out myself! I used white wine as a substitute.

ETA:. For your recipe, I'd sub either chicken broth or white wine.

Don't forget that Spain is a very hot country.

Very true, but based on my experience, there I doubt that many people keep open bottles of anything around for months on end. :)

I understand where you are coming from. I don't like sherry, or the taste it imparts in food. so I'd use broth too.

Sherry lasts indefinitely, as does Madeira, port and dry vermouth. I use all three for cooking. I also enjoy a nice small glass of dry sherry as a before-dinner drink in the winter - who wants a cold glass with ice in his hands on a cold winter night!

“Lasts indefinitely” but.... what’s this in my sherry? Wasn’t there when new. This has happened to me with marsala, too. Both stored in the fridge. Screw top so not a cork issue.

FOAS, I just read about sherry being susceptible to oxidation and that it should be stored upright, and not on its side. My totally WAG is that you stored the bottle sideways and you're getting oxidized sediment.

Interesting, thanks!

There really isn't a substitute for the sherry. But, there are lots of use a for it. A spoonful in many soups works wonders. Here's some inspiration.

https://www.bbc.com/food/sherry

PM, y'know all those received wisdom jokes, like folding the linen just so, because that's the way it fit in mom's linen cupboard? I kind of learned by osmosis that the sherry bottle stands upright but I never knew why.

FOAS, the less technical term is "dregs". There are fine mesh strainers, but it's best to just let them sink to the bottom and not stir them up. Perfectly normal, however.

Stumpy, all colored wine has dregs....sediment...stuff that stays in the bottom of the bottle. That's what people leave behind when they decant a bottle of the good old stuff in front of a candle. They stop when the sediment starts to show up.
That's another reason for the bump up in the bottom of a wine bottle.

Thanks Linda and plllog but do these “develop”? I’m used to sediment in red wines, but they’re there from the start. This is not. At least, not visibly.

I don't particularly like Sherry or the flavor that it adds to dishes, and so I always substitute something that I do like, possibly Sake or even Sauvignon Blanc. I especially do not like Madeira, and so I generally avoid recipes that call for it.

I do use Shaoxing wine in a few recipes, and the flavor it adds is very important IMO, but then unlike Sherry, I like the flavor that Shaoxing adds. I use Mirin in some Japanese recipes, and the flavor it adds is also important.

Not what one might call "appropriate" but definitely a propos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrbAyHVVYgI

lacyvail, you've pretty much heard from everyone already, but I'll add my 2 cents : )

Beef broth, white wine, thyme. Those were my go-to's for years.

FWIW, I couldn't tolerate any alcohol, even cooked, for a very long time. I can now, and when I first used sherry in a recipe that called for it I was amazed how much difference it made - so much better. And just a little. I don't drink sherry at all - don't care for the taste as is. I don't live in a rural area, but do live in an area that has limited ingredients. Next time you're out in the 'great beyond' you might make a list of ingredients you'd like to have/try, including sherry : )

Agree, it doesn't take much sherry to make a huge difference!

FOAS, my guess is that the particle sediment already existed in the bottle and oxidation caused the particles to turn brown, making them easy to see.

Also, the act of pouring can bring sediments up from the bottom.

If your grocer has a decent asian for section try Mirin, or shoguns wine (sorry about the spelling)

When wine ferments it leaves "dregs" (when I was making wine, I always called it yeast poop, lol). When it's bottled, there is likely to be a tiny bit of yeast still clinging to life. It might take it a very long time (esp when refrigerated) to digest the smallest amount of sugar before it dies and it would leave a few dregs like what you are seeing.