Basic Shellfish Stock Recipe - Chef John Besh

Yields: 6 cups
Conversion Chart: Here >>

Chef's Notes: Tips:
1 make my favorite chicken stock from the left-over carcasses of Sunday's herb-roasted chicken. In the same way, 1 hang on to the fish heads and bones and the shells of shrimp, crab, and crawfish as flavor bases for the best stocks. After making a pot of stock. I pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it. After they're frozen. I store the cubes in a freezer bag. That way, I can easily retrieve them as 1 need them, without having to defrost quarts of stock at a time.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup canola oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 leek, white part, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound shells from shrimp, blue crab, crawfish. or lobster
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Procedure:
1. Heat the canola oil in a large pot over moderate heat. Cook the onions, celery, carrots, leeks, and
garlic, stirring often, until they are soft but not brown, about 3 minutes.

2. Add the shells from shrimp, blue crab, crawfish. or lobster, the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and 3 quarts water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface, until the stock has reduced by half, about 2 hours.

3. Strain through a fine sieve into a container with a cover. Allow the stock to cool, cover and refrigerate,
then skim of the fat. Freeze the stock in small batches to use later.




Book: My New Orleans: The Cookbook
Book Author: John Besh
Publisher: Andrew McMeel Publishing
Original Photograph By: Ditte Isager/EdgeReps
Photograph Retouched By: Recipe Spy

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