VIC Falls Back to Killer Garlic Shrimp Soup
Vic’s Creamy Shrimp & Potato with Cauliflower in the Supporting Cast

Prep Time: 40 Minutes
Yield: 6-8 Servings (Double portions for shift change meals)

The clocks had fallen back overnight, and the November morning arrived with an extra hour that nobody at the Conference Table seemed entirely certain how to spend.

Deirdre had an answer.

“Soup,” she announced.

Rocket looked up from his coffee. “Beef again?”

“Shrimp,” said Vic.

Rocket considered that. “Shrimp isn’t soup.”

“It is if you put it in soup,” Deirdre replied.

That settled the first controversy of the morning. Overseas, of course, there was more.

Europe managed to turn Halloween into flames in France and Germany while there was a coup d’etat in Poland.

Taken with the Communist ballot fracas in Brazil, it sets the stage for our own formal Election Day which they claim now is only two days away.

We think that calls for the big kettle to get dragged out so someone can make soup that has a different protein binder in it, something light and zesty from Vic’s portfolio!

This one is fun and filling for the first day of November and the final resolution of how the next two years are going to play out here as our spinning world does it’s generational changing act!

The second controversy involved the cauliflower.

Vic had been working on a creamy potato soup that was substantial enough for the watch section but didn’t require half a cow, three pounds of cheese or a second mortgage at the Organic Butcher.

The potatoes would provide the body. Cauliflower would add texture and a little sweetness. Onion and garlic would do their usual useful work, with heavy cream rounding out the broth.

And the shrimp?

They were the stars of the production.

Rocket wanted to know why the shrimp weren’t being grilled.

“Because,” Deirdre explained, “we are making soup.”

“Could grill them first.”

“You could,” Vic agreed. “But the skillet is already on the stove, and we are trying to feed people before the next election.”

That brought the conversation around to the usual November subjects: Halloween decorations waiting to be taken down, the clocks returning to Standard Time, and the national political machinery roaring toward Tuesday.

Outside the Galley, the world was preparing for another round of excitement. Inside, the practical questions were simpler.

How many potatoes?

How much shrimp?

And how many people were actually coming for lunch?
The answer to the last question remained classified.

Deirdre inspected the recipe. Four medium potatoes, half a head of cauliflower, a small onion and a pound of shrimp. Enough for four to six ordinary people, depending on whether Rocket was included in the count.

The shrimp would be cooked separately in butter and garlic, then arranged on the finished bowls with parsley and a little of the skillet’s garlicky butter.

The soup itself would be blended smooth, leaving the shrimp intact.

That was important. Nobody wanted to explain to the watch why the shrimp had disappeared into a beige puree.

Rocket approved the arrangement, although he reserved the right to add cayenne.

Vic pointed out that the recipe already included it.

“Not enough,” Rocket said.

Deirdre put the pepper where he couldn’t reach it.

And so another ordinary November day began at Socotra House: the news on the tablet, coffee at the Conference Table, somebody arguing about the menu, and the Galley attempting to turn a modest collection of ingredients into something worth gathering around.

The result was Vic’s Creamy Shrimp & Potato Soup.

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www.vicsocotra.com