Shellfish Stock
This is for the shells from shrimp, crab, crawfish, lobster, or similar critters – whether you catch or buy them.
If your shells were cooked in a spicy or otherwise heavily flavored boil, you have a decision to make: rinse them first, or not. If you feel the spices/flavors your shells were orriginally cooked with might clash with your intended use for the resulting stock, give them a cold water rinse or soak before adding them to this recipe. I never rinse and have been pleased with the results. YMMV.
If your shells were cooked in a spicy or otherwise heavily flavored boil, you have a decision to make: rinse them first, or not. If you feel the spices/flavors your shells were orriginally cooked with might clash with your intended use for the resulting stock, give them a cold water rinse or soak before adding them to this recipe. I never rinse and have been pleased with the results. YMMV.
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Shellfish Stock
This is for the shells from shrimp, crab, crawfish, lobster, or similar critters – whether you catch or buy them.
If your shells were cooked in a spicy or otherwise heavily flavored boil, you have a decision to make: rinse them first, or not. If you feel the spices/flavors your shells were orriginally cooked with might clash with your intended use for the resulting stock, give them a cold water rinse or soak before adding them to this recipe. I never rinse and have been pleased with the results. YMMV. |
| Servings |
| 1lb shells |
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Ingredients
- 1lb shells — crush larger shells, such as a dungeness top
- 2qt water — Amount approximate. Enough to cover.
- 1/2cup dry white wine — NOT SWEET!
- 2cup chopped onion
- 1cup chopped carrot
- 1cup chopped celery stalk
- 1/4lb mushrooms — sliced or diced.
- 4cloves garlic — smashed, leave paper on.
- 1bunch Radish Greens — Rinse, seal & freeze radish greens whenever you bring home a bunch. They are EXCELLENT in stock.
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1Tbsp peppercorns
- 3sprig thyme
- 3sprig parsley — Italian (flat-leaf). Curly only in an emergency.
- 2Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2tsp coriander seeds — crushed (extra points if you toast them a bit first)
- 1/2Fresh fennel bulb tops Optional — Just the tops/fronds.
- 2clove star anise — Consider ommitting if you used the optional fennel tops
- 2Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Roast mirepoix (onion/carrot/celery) and mushrooms in 400°F oven until it just starts to brown.
- Add shells and roast until they start to brown. WATCH CAREFULLY, they burn easiily — probably 10 minutes max. Remove from oven.
- In a large pot, heat olive oil, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, coriander, mirepoix, mushrooms, shells and tomato paste. Sautee a bit (not too much) then deglaze with the dry white wine.
- Add star anise and optional radish greens to pot, cover with the contents of the sautee pan, then cover with water and bring to a slow simmer for 90 minutes. You can skim the “impurities” if you like, but try to disturb it as little as possible. Never, ever stir stock.
- with 20 minutes to go, add the parsley, gently pushing it down below the surface.
Finish
- Moving quickly, get the solids out, filter the stock and do a quick chill. Then refrigerate overnight.
- Use in 3 or 4 days (not longer), or check out KillerNoms.com/WildGameStock.php#storage for longer term storage techniques. It freezes great.
Recipe Notes
Using un-rinsed crawfish shells from a REALLY spicy boil had a predictably spicy and delicious result, which will be great in things like ramen but could clash with some recipes.