One Year and Counting

On November 6, 2012 I launched the Fast and Furious Cook Blog. Now that it has been almost one year here are some of my thoughts on the last year blogging.

Wow, there is so much to learn to be an effective blogger.

Cooking doesn’t come easy to most people.

Washing dishes, pots and pans is not glamorous.

My kitchen sure is small.

My puppy has the usual dog ability to get in the way when I cook.

Photographing food is not easy.

Learning how to master WordPress is not easy either.

Writing recipes is fun and easy for me.

Hot and spicy food is where it’s at.

Many Americans are fat and unhealthy but Mexicans have just passed us by according to a story I heard on NPR this morning. Welcome to the number one spot.

Fresh organic produce from my garden beats grocery store produce any day.

My, but there are a lot of food bloggers out there.

Good health matters, and is determined mostly by what and how much we eat.

There are a lot of nutrition blogs out there. Read one often.

GMO food products are like some mad science project gone bad.

Shopping at a farm that has been in business for over one hundred years is cool. Especially when they use methods from over one hundred years ago.

I don’t like chemicals in my food.

People will say “I’ll buy your cookbook, but don’t”, and that’s just the way it is. No big deal.

Writing a cookbook is easy, but shooting the pictures, editing it, cooking something five times to get it right are not easy.

I still love to cook and create new dishes.

A lot of the info out there on eating healthy is wrong, but keep reading anyway because some of it is right.

Cooking in front of an audience is fun for me.

Always keep learning.

It’s been a great year in spite of the loss of my german shepherd Vixen and my Ragdoll cat Buster.

Pretty boy Buster

Vixen fall of 2010

And with that my friends I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, and passing on my blog and recipes. I promise you I will do all I can do improve year after year so I can bring you the best food choices for a healthy life.

I leave you with this recent recipe from the F&FC test kitchen. Most cream soups have gobs of milk or cream, but this does not. Try it, you will like it.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

1 pound cauliflower florets

5 cups water

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil

3 tablespoons minced yellow onion

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour

3-4 tablespoons better than bullion chicken base

1/4 cup half and half

white pepper to taste, about 1/4 teaspoon

the ingredients

Cut cauliflower into equal sized florets then put in a pot with water, and chicken base and cook for about 12-15 minutes covered on medium high heat until tender. While the cauliflower is cooking start the minced onions in butter and garlic oil in a saute pan on medium low heat. Cook onions for 5-7 minutes stirring often until translucent and tender. Add flour and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes.

By now the cauliflower should be about done. Turn off heat and use the following directions for tabletop blender or immersion blender.

If using a tabletop blender drain cauliflower but reserve cooking liquid. Put cauliflower in blender with about 2 cups of the cooking liquid and puree. In the pot with the remaining cooking liquid add flour/onion mix and stir well with a wire whip until blended. Add pureed cauliflower to pot and stir.

If using an immersion blender leave cauliflower in water and blend until about pureed. Add flour and onion mix and blend first with a wire whip then use the immersion blender to finish the job.

To finish the soup add the half and half with the white pepper and serve with my Pan Toasted Croutons as a garnish.

Serves 4-6.

Cream of cauliflower soup with spicy croutons

Note:

Use the larger amount of chicken base if you want the soup a bit more flavorful and salty. You can always add the extra tablespoon at the end after tasting it.

Try coconut milk if you want to skip the dairy, and use olive oil in stead of butter.

Try a tablespoon or two of Spike or Mrs Dash seasoning salt in place of chicken bullion for a vegan/vegetarian soup.