This is for the shells from shrimp, crab, crawfish or lobster, or similar critters - whether you catch or buy them. If your shells were cooked in a spicy boil, you have a decision to make: rinse them first, or not. If you don't want the boil spices to clash with your intended use, give them a good rinse or three. But if you prefer the addition of those spicy "seafood boil" flavors, go commando!
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lb shells
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Ingredients
- 1 lb shells — crush larger shells, such as a dungeness top
- 2 qt water — Amount approximate. Enough to cover.
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 cup onion
- 1 cup carrot
- 1 cup celery stalk
- 1/4 lb mushrooms sliced or diced
- 4 cloves garlic — smashed, leave paper on.
- Some to taste Radish Greens
- 2 leaf Bay Leaf
- 1 Tbsp peppercorns
- 3 sprig thyme
- 3 sprig parsley — intalian flat-leaf is preferred, but curly is ok.
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds — crushed
- 2 clove star anise — Consider ommitting if you used fennel tops
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 Tops Fresh fennel bulb — Just the tops. Slicing the bulb into the aromatics is an experiment for another day.
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Roast mirepoix (onion/carrot/celery) and mushrooms in 400°F oven until just start to brown. Then add shells and roast until they start to brown. WATCH CAREFULLY, they can easily be burned — probably 10 minutes max.
- Heat olive oil, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, coriander, mirepoix, mushrooms, shells and tomato paste. Sautee a bit, not too much. Then add wine to deglaze.
- Add star anise and radish greens to pot, cover with the contents of the sautee pan, then cover with water and bring to 185°F for 90 minutes. You can skim the "impurities" if you like, but you want 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 https://killernoms.com/WildGameStock.php#storage for longer term storage techniques. It freezes great if you get all the air out and freeze it super cold (-10°F or below), 2-3 months otherwise.
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 would clash with many recipes. Going to try a well-rinsed batch next.
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