Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

I love pesto sauces. My latest favorite is sun dried tomato pesto.

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces of sundried tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• 3 cloves of chopped garlic
• ¼ cup of chopped toasted pine nuts
• ½ small chopped onion
• 1 ½ tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons of tomato paste
• 1 medium tomato chopped
• 2 ½ tablespoons of red wine
• ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup of parmesan cheese grated
• Salt to taste

Method:

Reconstitute sun dried tomatoes with warm water for 10 minutes. Process all ingredients except the oil and parmesan cheese until well blended. Stir in olive oil and parmesan cheese.

This is awesome with pasta and shrimp tossed together.

 BONUS:

I also make mixtures of dried herbs and keep on hand to use in cooking. One of my favorites is this Cajun mix:

Nancy’s Cajun Mix

Mix and keep in an airtight canning jar to use in Cajun sauces or coating meats and fish. Mix equal parts of dried thyme, fennel, cumin, marjoram, cayenne paprika, dehydrated onion and garlic.

We’re Growing! Meet Amy McMullen, Sommelier

As CVC’s Sommelier, Amy creates packages for events, mixing signature cocktails and beverage pairing menus unique to every client’s interests.

After studying wine for nearly a decade, she earned a certification as a Master Sommelier from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Amy recently served as Beverage Coordinator for Sea Dog Brewing Company.

Originally from Connecticut, Amy has worked in the food and beverage industry for 10 years, the last five spent in Maine. She enjoys staying on top of beverage trends and incorporating them into classic cocktails. Amy’s favorite after-work activity is spending time with her newborn baby.

Dried Herbs

So many of us have discovered what a wonderful thing an herb garden is. You can have one on a sunny a well drained and infertile soil garden or on your kitchen windowsill or on your deck or patio. Fortunately herbs are easy to grow and even easier to pick and preserve.  They do not like shade or wet soil. The more you fertilize them the weaker their flavor is. So I am a good candidate for an herb garden. I am a terrible gardener. Boy you should see my herbs on my patio! Do they ever produce. Because all I do is pick them in the morning and use them throughout the day in my food preparations. When autumn arrives I begin to think of drying my herbs for use throughout the winter.

Most herbs can be dried and stored for future use. The best herbs for drying are ones without high moisture content such as bay leaves, dill, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory and thyme. Basil, mint, chives and tarragon should be dried with a dehydrator since they are full of moisture. There are several ways to dry fresh herbs. The easiest and most popular is air drying. For this method you do not need any special equipment either. Just pick your herbs and rinse off thoroughly and dry completely on a towel. Be sure to dry completely so your herbs do not produce mold. If any leaf has mold discard. Remove the bottom leaves so that you can gather branches together and tie them together. I use a rubber band to tie mine. Be sure to tie them tightly because they shrink as they dry and the band will loosen. Poke a couple of holes in a brown bag and put the herbs upside down in the bag and tie the bag. Then find a warm dry place to hang them upside down for a few weeks until they become crispy. That is it! How simple is that?

Once they are dried just put them in airtight jars and store away from sunlight. I store mine in my pantry so that I have them handy in the kitchen. Do not crush them prior to use. They will loose their flavor more quickly. It is best to crush them with your fingers so that their oils release their awesome flavoring.

The flavor of dried herbs is so intense that you do not use as much in a recipe as you do when using fresh herbs. The following is a guideline on how much dried herbs to use in place of one tablespoon of fresh herbs:

• Chives: 1 teaspoon
• Dill:  1 teaspoon
• Marjoram: ½ teaspoon
• Mint: 1 teaspoon
• Oregano: ½ teaspoon
• Rosemary: ½ teaspoon
• Sage: ½ teaspoon
• Tarragon: 1 teaspoon
• Thyme: ½ teaspoon

Helpful Herb Tips

Dried herbs are a must for any quick cooking. They add great flavor and are inexpensive and are long lasting. Whether you dry your own herbs or buy them from the store use the following tips to get the best flavor:

• Most herbs begin to lose their flavor after 6 months. I believe that this is a fact of Mother Nature. It is not a coincidence that in autumn we dry our herbs and they last throughout the winter and spring until a new batch of herbs can be planted and harvested!
• If you are using store bought dried herbs watch the expiration date. If the herbs do not have an aroma they will no longer be strong enough to cook with.
• Long slow cooking times can diminish the flavor of dried herbs. So if you are using a crock-pot add the dried herbs at the very end of the cooking process.