Gasp, Did She Say… SHRIMP Empanadas??

Cabernet & Chaos (food + drink)The Hollow QuillShrimp recipescomfort food

Jan 6

Welcome to Cabernet & Chaos

Where *What the Fuck?* is my motto and not-so-coincidentally muttered nonstop while creating kitchen content. Enjoy 🍷

My aversion to seafood stems from PTSD.

Shocker, I know.

One not-so-crazy story: just the lies my mother used to spew straight from her mouth about cod fish fritters being “chicken.”

Which explains why, to this day, I question every single thing anyone has ever handed me to eat.

Trust issues?

In this economy? Absolutely.

So when HG invited me to his family’s Italian Christmas tradition—the Seven Fish Feast—I nearly dry-heaved seven times and felt legitimately lightheaded picking up a bag of shrimp at the grocery store.

Pathetic? Sure.
Do I care? Not a single fuck.

I picked up that bag using the hem of my shawl like it was radioactive.

My man stood beside me, laughing softly, cheering me on as I attempted to cook seafood for him and his immediate family—something I would normally classify as an Olympic-level act of psychological warfare.

For context: if I buy a bottle of orange juice and someone opens it before I do—and I don’t see it happen—I will not drink it until someone confesses to opening it at home.
What if some loon tampered with that shit at the market?

I trust no one.

Which brings me to trauma number two: my mom once went into anaphylactic shock from peeling shrimp on a random weekend afternoon.

Does she still eat shrimp?
Yes.

Has it scarred me forever?
Also yes.

And yet… you do some unexpected shit when you find the person you know—deep in your bones—would move heaven and earth just to see you smile.

Love doesn’t always show up as grand gestures or dramatic declarations.

Sometimes it shows up as you standing in your kitchen, hands shaking slightly, folding shrimp into empanada dough while reminding yourself that you’re safe now.

That you’re allowed to rewrite the stories that once scared you.

I didn’t make these because he asked. He in fact told me to make my original recipe empanadas.
I made them because I know he would walk straight into my fears without flinching if it meant making my life easier.

And the quiet truth?

He already does that—every damn day.

Until Next Time… 🍷

Üllo Original Wine Purifier

Cabernet & Chaos Wine Pairing

Pair with: a chilled Pinot Grigio or a citrus-forward Sauvignon Blanc.
Bright, crisp, and slightly acidic—perfect for cutting through the richness of the empanadas while keeping things light enough for people who are emotionally fragile but still hungry.