I got together with a couple of the lovely ladies of the Red Pill community today for coffee and chit chat, and I must say, it was awesome. It’s quite comforting to meet people of a like mind, and be able to speak openly about Captain/First Officer ideas without the looming threat of judgment. If we’d had the time, I probably could have sat and picked their brains for a few more hours, but alas, life doesn’t allow for such leisure time. I hope we can hang out more in the future.

I got home and started in on dinner, which started with a set recipe but ended up being sort of a “garbage soup” of stuff left over in the fridge. It turned out pretty great, though I think next time I’ll leave out the cream, as it separated towards the end of the cooking (that always happens to me, despite my best efforts). Good enough that I’ll share here, as it can easily be paleo without the cream. Wait, seafood is paleo, right? Side note, I’ve lost a couple of pounds this week just from cutting out carbs from dinner, so bonus. Finally got through the stupid plateau I was in.

Shrimp and Corn “Chowder”

4 ears corn, kernels cut from the cobs with the cobs reserved
1 pound shrimp peeled and deviend with the shells reserved
6 cups broth
4 slices smoked bacon, cut into one inch pieces
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning (or any Cajun seasoning you prefer)
3 egg yolks
1 cup half & half or 1/2 cup heavy cream
salt (or fish sauce), pepper and cayenne (or sriracha) to taste

Tip: if you want an especially flavorful broth, you can simmer the corn cobs and shrimp shells in it ahead of time, then strain them out and carry on with the rest of the recipe. Otherwise:

Cook the bacon in a large soup pot. Place finished bacon to the side. Drain some of the bacon grease, leaving enough to pan roast the corn. Once corn is roasted, add onions, bell pepper, and garlic, cook until onions become soft and translucent. Add thyme and Old Bay, cook for a few more minutes, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, add shrimp, cook for 10 minutes till shrimp are pink and curled up.

At this point, you can leave it as it is, or you can thicken it with the egg yolk and cream. Let the whole thing cool down a bit, you don’t want it boiling when you add dairy, or it will separate and look kind of gross. To add the egg yolks, you’ll have to temper them in a separate bowl by whisking in a few spoonfuls of the hot broth. This brings the temperature of the liquid egg up without scrambling them. Once you’ve whisked in several spoonfuls of broth, you can dump the eggs into the soup while stirring. Add the cream, season to taste.

Kale or spinach are good additions to this soup, add it in just before you serve so it doesn’t over-cook. I also added small diced tomatoes. Just about any veggie will work in here.