Gluttons Club

...went to her cupboard and found it very well stocked indeed.

Molly, who just got a farm share and will have unknown fruits and veggies coming her way every week, wants to know what sort of things she needs to keep in her fridge and pantry so she'll be ready to cook when the unexpected beet, rutabega or dinosaur kale comes her way.

I'd begin with a couple of herb plants either in the garden or potted indoors. Basil, parsely, sage or rosemary are good and versatile things to have around.

Then, I'd focus on sources of protein and carbs on hand to accompany the veg and fruit that will arrive.

Proteins are easy. Get some meat and put in freezer. Wrap all meat in ziplock type storage bags to better maintain freshness and label the bags with type of meat and date so you'll be able to sort them easily. To thaw, put the meat, still in the bag, in a bucket of cold water. Pork or chicken can be thawed while being brined. It'll take longer to brine but you get both done at once. Freeze individual pieces separately for faster thawing or to have access to individual servings if need be. I like to keep sausages in the freezer at all times because they can go on the grill, in a pasta sauce, in a paella style rice dish, or with beans and rice. Chicken goes with nearly everything too. Deli meats, pancetta or dried sausages are good staples for the fridge but obviously won't last as long so take care of that.

If you don't eat meat, I guess you could have some canned beans on hand or something. But probably you may want to seek help elsewhere.

Oatmeal or other breakfast grains are good to have around for creative breakfasts with the odd fruit you'll get. speaking of grains; rice, couscous, polenta, etc. will last forever in the pantry and do well with nearly any veg/meat combination. Pasta is of course a must have. Stock a variety of shapes for whatever need may arise. Smaller shapes are good for the stone soup in the middle of winter while penne is good for everything from simple red sauce to cold pasta salad in the summer.

As for basic dry goods, you'll obviously need olive oil, vinegars, dry herbs, good salt, soy sauce, canned tomatoes, pepper in a grinder. Basic baking goods like flour, baking soda and powder, and sugar are handy for when the farm share arrives with both straberries and rhubard. Jars of stuff like roasted peppers, sun dried tomatoes, capers, duck confit, artichokes etc. are needed to match your tastes and desires. You never know when you'll end up with all the ingredients for, say, pasta puttanesca and boom, there's that jar of capers gathering dust in the back of the shelf. You thought you'd never need it but you were wrong.

Enjoy the farm share Moll, and good luck getting William to eat veg.

I know I'm forgetting some things here, feel free to leave other vitals in the comments section. Also, leave a clue as to who you are. The anonymous potato poster has me confounded.