Farm share, week 14

[magid]

• 2 pounds of purple-skinned carrots
  
• 2 pounds of beets
  
• 2 pounds of small yellow potatoes
  
• 4 heads of garlic
  
• 6 small yellow onions
  
• 4 pickling cucumbers (I chose small ones)
  
• 4 small Italian eggplants
  
• 8 bell peppers (I chose 4 smaller ones that had started ripening, and swapped 4 larger green ones for 3 more yellow onions)
  
• 4 small heads of cauliflower
  
• 24 small red tomatoes
  
• 8 medium yellow tomatoes
  
• 1 pound of mixed salad greens (spicy mix)
  
• 2 large bunches of rosemary
  
• take-what-you-want herbs (I took some sage and oregano; there was also holy basil, red shiso, parsley, and thyme, plus maybe something else I'm forgetting)

First thoughts: yay, cauliflower! yay, potatoes! Roasted eggplant and potatoes. Roasted cauliflower. Tomato sauce to freeze. Green salad with cucumber and tomatoes. Roasted potatoes with rosemary. Some kind of tsimmes. Maybe pureed mixed herbs (in oil?).

Any ideas for far-too-much rosemary?

Comments

[cellio]

I tend to use rosemary a sprig at a time, so I don't know about large amounts, but it does dry well if you can't use it all. As for what I do with it: on roasted chicken or salmon, in a citrus marinade for lamb chops, and I have a bread recipe that uses dried rosemary but suggests an alternative where you heat the olive oil in a skillet with fresh rosemary and then let it cool off and use the now-rosemary-infused oil. I haven't actually done this yet but I keep meaning to. (My rosemary has not been very bountiful this year, alas.)

[magid]

I love the idea of drying herbs, but (a) live in a humid climate, and (b) pretty much always have fresh rosemary around (I have a pot that comes in from the porch in the winter).

Thanks for the recipe ideas for use, especially the oil infusion; all I'd thought of is using branches under roasted potatoes or with chicken.

I wish I could send you some roasemary :-)

[cellio]

Oh right, potatoes -- how could I have left those out?

It's too humid here too to air-dry herbs when they're in season. I use my oven set at its lowest temperature (that's 170 on mine). Leafy herbs like basil take 45-60 minutes usually; rosemary takes a bit longer. All times are approximate; I'm just trying to give you an idea for comparison. I check in on them every now and then until they feel right.

I wish you could send me excess rosemary too! Oh well; I'll have to give mine better pep talks next year or something.