bacon and corn chowder

yep, it was as decadent as it sounds.  We adapted this decadent (yet somewhat healthy) soup recipe from Cooking Light and topped it with sumptuous lobster tail, compliments of Mrs. Kay Ann (because let's face it: lobster was NOT in our food budget for the week). here is the original recipe although we are convinced you will love our version better because we used a homemade shrimp stock as opposed to chicken broth.  Now, let me say that this trip converted me from the canned stuff- not that I have a huge issue with it because it is delicious and meets my purposes, however, after seeing how Kate recycles every.single.thing she chops and how it results in a broth that is incomparable to the can, I am a convert.  To make our shrimp stock, we saved everything we worked with ranging from cucumbers to lemons, and of course, the shrimp shells.  We put it in a large stock pot, covered it with water, put it a lid on it, and let it simmer away for a couple of hours.  Make sure to add plenty of salt!


So, follow the original recipe, but if you want to make it the Mer Mer and KK way, you'll do the following:
-make your shrimp stock (this would require that you have used fresh shrimp fairly recently, so if this isn't the case- just make some delicious veggie or chicken stock)
-roast the corn ahead of time (we did this by putting it on a sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees until we saw brown spots)
-remove all of the bacon grease from the pot except a small amount to sautee your veg in
-use rosemary instead of thyme (although either would be delicious)
-cook a lobster tail in boiling salt water for one minute per ounce that it weighs (ours was 8 oz so we boiled it for 8 minutes)
-top your soup with some lobster and scallions

incredible, right?