Green Goddess Seasoning

I love a bit of salty seasoning.  In fact, I probably have way too many jars of salt in my pantry - sea salt, citrus salt, chilli salt ... You get the picture, my friends.  I have once or twice bought green goddess seasoning from a certain well-known company here in Australia, but I am not a big fan of their stuff.  Sadly I have had to turf their products a few times (but I've learnt my lesson now).  So I decided to make my own version of this one.

Their list of ingredients starts off with (dried) onion and garlic; I wanted mine to be more "green", and include more dried herbs.  So I started off with the herbs, then added the rest.  I tend to throw it into everything!  I have a bit of an obsession with condiments and seasonings, so my pantry is full of 'em :=)  And still I buy more as well - hehehe ...

      

Rainbow Bob approves!

Gives 1 small jar (about 45g./1.5 oz):

ingredients:

2 Tbs dried chives

2 Tbs dried parsley  

1/2 tsp sumac

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp garlic granules/flakes

2 tsp roasted white sesame seeds

1.5 tsp dried onion flakes

a dozen or so grinds of black pepper

3 tsp citrus salt or your fave salt

you guessed it!

Method:

Well, you know what to do - tip everything into a mixing bowl,  

and stir it all together

Spoon the mix into a small jar!  I was so pleased with myself, as I grabbed a jar, and the mix fitted exactly into it!

Oh yes, Aussie tablespoons are bigger than everyone else's (dunno why that is), so an American one for instance holds 3 teaspoons whereas ours holds 4, so adjust as you wish

parsley

Notes:

You can basically use whichever of your fave herbs and spices you fancy, and add more or less of the other ingredients

(I just googled our Aussie tablespoons - the Standards Association Board in the 70s (when we went metric) decided it was a "cleaner" measure!)

minty goodness

ingredients gathered

and into the bowl ...

and into the jar!

a perfect fit :=)  (Ned approves too!)

Sumac

Just to reassure everyone, I've had the op., cancerous bits removed and well on the way to healing.  Thanks for your kind words!  And happily, so far half a thyroid is doing the job of a full one at present!  The general anaesthetic knocked me around for five full days after the op.  And it's only after two full weeks that I started to feel kinda human.  Here it is coming up to three weeks, and I even managed my uphill walk today.  Very happy with myself!

In My Kitchen - November 2026

I am writing this one less than a week before I go into hospital, but by the time you read this, I shall (hopefully) be home and feeling tons better.  So fingers crossed!  I won't dilly-dally here, but will just get on with a quick one from me!

October went like lightning, didn't it?  And Halloween will (have been) be a big one, as it is (was) a Saturday.  But, the Christmas Advent calendars are looming everywhere on social media!  Bring on 2027, I say!  Mr P. has had a terrible cold, and the neighbours have had Influenza A.  What is this year on about, my friends?!

Isn't she gorgeous? - fabulous ceramic mug with a handle
by our friend Catherine at Reason Gallery

In My Kitchen:

bought a bottle of beautiful EV olive oil

see the cute little bottle on bottom left?  Japanese shallot oil

chocolate of course :)

Italian EV olive oil (I love octopuses! NOT octopi!)

This was super-expensive, so I would never have bought it but for Mr P. getting a nice voucher from a builder mate!  Thanks, Mr Builder Mate!

measuring cups - 'cos you can never have enough of 'em!

I covered some chocolate biscuits in chocolate ganache and pistachio spread

I bought some maple syrup  (Gromit is mystified by that mouse)

I had to buy Alice's new book, of course

the curveball - a ceramic percolator vase by our mate Nat from The Austin Flowers

nearly forgot to add this! Food from our mate Gai at Meander Gallery
 to tide us over while I am/was recuperating!

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the  Add your IMK link OR:

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it manually to the list below OR:

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process, or if you would like it to be added after the 13th ('cos I'm happy to add it for you later)

4. If you prefer not to add your post via Inlinkz, I am very happy to add it for you manually.  Just email me with your blog name and URL!!  

Looking forward to seeing you all here, my friends!

Mae's Food Blog: In My Kitchen

Junk Boat Travels: In My Kitchen

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Potatoes with Oregano aka Patate Origanate

Who doesn't love a potato?  Hands up!  See, everybody loves potatoes.  Especially those Peruvians with over 3000 varieties.  And the rest of the world with over 5000 varieties worldwide.  So thank goodness for the Andean peoples who first cultivated them, and then Sir Francis Drake for bringing them back to Europe (so legend goes).   

Thinking of potatoes made me remember singing a song at primary school about the "discovery" of potatoes, and bringing them back to Europe.  Mr P. says he doesn't remember learning these songs at school, but we did grow up in different States so maybe that's why!

This recipe is from Appealing Potatoes by Princess Weikersheim, with a sub-title 100 recipes from around the world.  Though it seems that the Princess had some help here, as this recipe is actually by Carmelina di S. Angelo d'Alife!  Phew, there's a name!

I made this for Cookbook Club in June, so it has taken me a while to get it up on the blog.  I decided to add more cheese, and mushrooms rather than tomatoes, regular readers being aware of my tomatoey angst - hehehe ...

golden and crunchy!

Serves 4-6 as a side dish:

ingredients:

700g./1.5 lb (about 4 medium) potatoes, thinly sliced

230g./8 oz mushrooms  (I used white cup)   see Notes

60g./2 big ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

50g./1.8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

2 tsp (1 dessertspoon) EV olive oil

3-4 tsp chicken or veg. stock

1 red and 1 brown onion, thinly sliced  (use whatever you fancy)

100g./3.5 oz pitted, mixed olives, sliced

1 Tbs dried or fresh oregano leaves  (more if you love it)

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

180 mL/6 oz chicken or veg. stock

potatoes!

mushies!

Method:

Peel and slice your spuds (potatoes)

Grab a big baking dish, and spread 2-3 tsp of the olive oil, and 1-2 Tbs of the stock over the bottom of the dish

Place a layer of the potato slices on the bottom, just overlapping, (says the Princess)

Then a layer of onions over the potatoes, then some of the Parmesan

Throw on some oregano, salt and pepper

Add a wee bit of olive oil (a tablespoon or two?), then the olives

So repeat the layers of potato and onions till all used (and the cheese), and pour over the remaining stock, then a final sprinkling of oregano, salt and pepper, and olive oil

Finish with any remaining cheese (or grate some more), and some more olives if you like

Cover with alfoil, (or the lid if you have one), and bake for 50 minutes at 185C/365F

Take the alfoil off, and bake for another 20-30 minutes, till the veg. is tender and golden on top

olives

brown onion!

Notes:

The Princess calls for tomatoes rather than mushrooms - tinned, fresh or tomato purée, but you know how I feel about tomatoes :=) 

So where I add the stock, you can add tomato purée, or a layer of fresh tomato slices

gather your ingredients!

get slicing :=)

and layering

then add on your last bits of cheese

looking all golden and delicious!

even Winnie the Pooh loves potatoes!

dried oregano   

Cauliflower Marranca

Cauliflower can be controversial, apparently.  Who knew?  It seems that some people are (mistakenly - hehehe) opposed to the brassica family.  Mr P. and I on the other hand are big fans!  Give us a Brussels sprout or head of broccoli any day (though I do have a visceral dislike of the whole kale thing.  You know it's cow feed, don't you? :=))   

This recipe is from The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I lived with a number of vegans and vegetarians in my younger days, and both myself and Mr P. were vegetarian for about ten years (separate to each other).  I also helped a vegan friend write a cookbook!  We did a lot of testing of recipes, with a lot of soy beans, etc.  Don't tell anyone, but I used to make them dinner some nights when they were out late at uni., and I used butter in the seaweed stew!!

I had never heard of this recipe till I flicked thru this book of Mollie's, and decided to give it a go.  She is one clever cook!  And recipe compiler, and illustrator and editor and hand-letterer ...  (But why this is called Marranca I have no idea!  Even Mr. Google doesn't seem to know!)  

  

even Bartie Bear approves!

 

Serves 6:

ingredients:

1-2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs butter

1 large onion (I chose Spanish), chopped

500g./18 oz mushrooms, sliced  (I chose white cup)

juice of 1 lemon

salt and black pepper, to taste

1 large head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets    see Notes

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbs dried herbs (I chose parsley and chives)

sea salt flakes (I chose smoked) and ground black pepper, to taste

a few splashes (half a teaspoon?) of soy sauce, and of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mushroom powder, optional

1 tsp fried shallots (optional)

500g.-600g./18 oz-21 oz cooked brown rice   see Notes

1 tsp sea salt flakes

1-2 Tbs butter

250g./9 oz vintage (tasty) cheese, grated

grab your grater!

Method:

Heat up the oil and butter in a large frying pan, and add the chopped onion

Stir it around for a few minutes, then add the sliced mushies with the lemon juice

Add some salt and pepper, stir it around and let it cook gently till the veggies are soft and tender

Tip them out onto a plate or bowl, while you add a wee bit more oil or butter, and add the cauliflower florets into the frypan

Stir in the chopped garlic, and add the herbs, salt and pepper, the sauces and the mushroom powder, and fried shallots

Let it cook away till tender, giving the occasional stir

Throw on the salt and butter to your cooked rice (or not, if you used seasoned rice in a pouch)

Now tip everything into a large mixing bowl, and give it a good stir

Don't forget the grated cheese!  And some extra herbs if you wish

Spoon into a baking tray (mine is about 30cm X 24cm), which you lined with baking paper

Bake for about 25 minutes at 180C/350F with alfoil on top, then take off the alfoil and bake for another 5 or 10 minutes till golden on top

Serve with salad or a meat dish!

a head of cauliflower

Notes:

Mollie gives cup measurements for everything, so she says to use 2.5 cups cheese (which is 100g. per cup = 250g. all up, Google tells me).  And cooked rice is about 200g./7 oz per cup, and Mollie says to use 3 cups ...  

So cook up your rice in your preferred method!  Or use pouches of seasoned rice as I did (yes I confess!)

cauliflower and cheese 

gather your ingredients (yep, I threw in some fried shallots too)

cook till tender

then cook your cauli till tender

tip everything into a large bowl

spread the mixture out in the baking dish, and throw on some more herbs

baked for about half an hour at 180C/350F

have with a salad or add some meat if you fancy

Run! ... says the little mushie to the other ...

soy sauce or Tamari

Mollie believes in minimal instructions, it seems :=)

In My Kitchen - October 2026

I cannot believe all the Christmas ads I am seeing!  It started back in mid-August!  Advent calendars and the like.  It gets earlier every year, doesn't it?  Crazy stuff.  We did not have Christmas when I was a child, so it became a big deal when I got older and lived away from home.  But really, this is a wee bit too much, I reckon.

Just to let you all know, I am off for surgery late October, so the November IMK will be a quickie for me, done before I go to hospital.  So I doubt I will be able to comment on your posts but we will get there, my friends!   

my sneaky extra curveball - Sundae Bob by our mate Chainsaw Newton

In My Kitchen:

I made chicken and potato stew

and I bought a beautiful hand-carved scoop by Carol Russell

I bought the relishes from some lovely ladies having a Church stall
(the Pepero is from the Japanese store)

I hulled and sliced these for the freezer

and I bought this crabby plate from the online Japanese shop
(I'm a Cancerian; how can I help myself? - hehehe)

I made these somewhat dubious-looking pistachio spread/chocolate biscuits

our Tassie mate brought up these gorgeous, homegrown Meyer lemons

got these from our local Providore

yep another wooden spoon! carved in Japan (possibly beech?)

more Herbie's spices

so cute! hand-painted plate by Virginia Arregui

some more Japanese items from Genki Mart

 

Japanese ice creams!  Wow, that peach one on a stick was sublime!

the curveball - sweet little vase made by our mate NatPop from TheAustinFlowers

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the  Add your IMK link OR:

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it manually to the list below OR:

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process, or if you would like it to be added after the 13th ('cos I'm happy to add it for you later)

4. If you prefer not to add your post via Inlinkz, I am very happy to add it for you manually.  Just email me with your blog name and URL!!  

Looking forward to seeing you all here, my friends!

Mae's Food Blog: September 2026

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter