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

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Click here to enter

Baked Bean Scones

Do other bloggers/readers know of Briony May?  She was a contestant in The Great British Bake Off in 2018, and has gone from strength to strength in the UK food world, and now hosts Escape to the Country.  She has been doing this zany thing of making scones from A-Z, and is currently up to the letter V, I think. 

So I decided to make some baked bean scones, as I had some wee tins in the pantry (and fridge).  I can't wait to try some of her other mad scones!  She started off with hummus, then graduated to the A-Z, including N for Nutella which was a sad failure, she said.  

Quick rant here - as anyone else noticed that recipes are starting to use fan-forced oven temps. as the default? - and then putting the regular oven temperature.  I almost missed that Briony was using fan-forced, as she had only written 'fan' after the temperature, which I only just noticed on the next line of the recipe.  I find it really annoying!  Grrrrr!  Rant over :=)

of course plenty of butter on your warm scone, my friend!

Makes 4 small scones:

ingredients:

150g./5.3 oz baked beans (I used Heinz, of course), mashed

125g./4.4 oz self-raising flour (or 125g. plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)

1/2 tsp sea salt

about a dozen grinds fresh black pepper

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried chives

1 Tbs milk

Parmesan cheese, grated - about 3-4 Tbs or so

pretty obvious what this is :=)

Method:

Place the mashed-up beans, flour, salt, pepper and herbs into a large mixing bowl

Add 1.5-2 Tbs of the grated Parmesan into the mixture

Give it a good mix, then shape with your hands into a dough, then into a small ball - this is a dry-looking mixture, but it will come together without added liquid (I was afraid I'd have to add milk)

Place the ball of dough onto a paper-lined baking tray, and cut into quarters

Brush the tops with the milk, then sprinkle on the rest of the cheese

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 200C/400F (mine took 13 mins.)

Split and spread with lots of butter

we love pepper!

Notes:

Notes?  Are there any notes?  Maybe not.  I just have to add that Mr P. really liked these, and said that you can't really taste the beans at all!  Oh yes, I forgot to say that Briony says to bake these at 180C fan, which of course is 200C fan-less :=)

Oh yes, don't worry too much about the mashing of the beans!  I just used a fork, and gave them a good seeing-to, but I didn't worry about a few lumpy bits!

grab those ingredients

throw everything into your mixing bowl

place the ball of dough onto your lined tray and cut into quarters

brush with milk and sprinkle with Parmesan

golden and beautiful after 13 mins. at 200C/400F

can't wait to try 'em

let's hoe in

Mr P. is keen! (hasn't his head healed well?)

of course it's beans!

Easy Zucchini and Mushroom Pie

Back in our vegetarian days, Mr P. and I (and our housemates) used to eat a lot of beans and cheese and vegetables, of course!  So Alison Holst's cookbooks were very often brought out.  She and her son Simon wrote lots of cookbooks, before she sadly was diagnosed with dementia.

This pie is similar to a baked frittata/crustless quiche kind of thing, which I often make for dinner.  You could add cooked bacon, or ham or maybe even fish to this one.  But we are having a vegetarian friend coming over for dinner tonight, so we will stick to a non-meaty version.  (Ms P., our poet friend from Tasmania said later that she loved this!)

(Edit: Forgot to say that the book is called Meals without Meat by Alison and Simon Holst.  Also forgot to say that our dear friend is Pam Schindler poet extraordinaire; her books include A Sky you could fall into, and Say, a river.  I think her poems are simply marvellous!)  

golden and smelling heavenly (I suggest lining the dish with baking paper)

Serves 6-8:

ingredients:

500g./18 oz zucchini, grated    see Notes

1 onion, grated

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely or thrown into the food processor with the onion

200g./7 oz mushrooms, chopped or sliced (fairly finely)

4 large eggs

180g./6.3 oz cheddar/vintage cheese, grated

1/2 tsp sea salt

95g./3.4 oz self-raising flour

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2-1 tsp mushroom powder  (optional)

a dash of dried chilli flakes, if you please

herbs of your choice, chopped  (I used parsley and chives)

extra grated cheese for the top (optional)  (I used Parmesan)

tomato slices for the top (optional)   (but you know how I feel about tomatoes, so it's a no from me)

you guessed it!  Zucchini it is!

Method:

Place the grated zucchini, onion and garlic in a large mixing bowl, and add the chopped mushrooms

Add the eggs, cheese and salt to the bowl, and give it all a good mixing with a fork

In go the flour, black pepper, mushroom powder, chilli flakes and chopped herbs, which you stir in well

Grab a large baking dish or 2 x 23cm/9 inch cake or pie tins, and butter them well (or use an oil spray if you must) - you can add some baking paper to the bottom if you feel so inclined   see Notes

Pour this mixture into your tin or dish, and add tomato slices over the top if you fancy, and extra grated cheddar or parmesan cheese if you feel the need for even more cheese

Bake at 200C/400F for 25-40 minutes!  You want the top golden, and the centre feeling firm (says Alison)  (Mine took about 35 minutes)

Let it sit and think about its life choices for 5 minutes, before slicing and serving with a green salad

red onions

Notes:

I suggest using the grating blade on your food processor, and letting it do the work: place the onion and garlic into the bowl and give it a good whizzing, then add the zucchini and whizz away till grated

I used my enamel baking dish, which is 30cm/12 in x 25cm/10 in, but I figured with the extra ingredients like the mushrooms, I will need a bit more space than Alison says to use  (and yes, it fitted perfectly!)

I love me some chives!

gather your ingredients

Mr P. takes the helm of the food processor to grate the veg.

grated veg. courtesy of Mr P.!

tip the ingredients into your large mixing bowl, my friends!

grate some Parmesan for the top

golden and slightly springy to the touch

add a bit of salad to your plate 

and have some proper gelato with fruit for dessert

We bought this fabulous gelato from a local place - Miss Sophia's Gelateria, - which is dangerously close to us :=).  It is SO delicious; our Tassie mate said she had never had better, except in Italy.  And she should know, as she has very recently returned from her writing residency in Tuscany!

Ooh, I meant to tell you:  Mr P. and I gave a talk at our local Historical Society on an interesting place we lived in back in our younger days.  If you'd like to listen (it's only 14 minutes long), you can access it on my Facebook page - Sherry Mackay - dated 7th September.