LOBSTER STOCK
Stock seems to hold a mystique for many home cooks. But, at the end of the day, stock is just a way to extract every bit of flavor and body out of ingredients. It’s a way to prevent waste.
If we start thinking of stock as more of a frugal technique and less of a rarified art, I believe that more people would make stock, and our food would taste better. It's why it is one of the first techniques they teach new students in culinary schools around the country.
While this “recipe” is for lobster stock, please know that you can substitute almost anything for the lobster: shrimp shells, fish bones, turkey wings, veal bones, roasted vegetables to make all manner of flavorful stocks.
To make lobster stock, you will need. Ingredients in parentheses are optional:
• Several pounds of lobster shells
• A little olive oil
• Onion, carrot and celery, cut into large chunks
• (garlic, fennel, shallot)
• (tomato paste)
• Peppercorns
• Bay leaves
• Sprigs of parsley or thyme
• (White wine)
• Cold water
How to Prepare Lobster Stock at Home
Crush the shells a bit with a hammer or meat mallet (or skillet). Brush with a little olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven until they are bright red—about half an hour. They will smell awful, so make sure your exhaust fan is on or that you can open a window.
If using, brush some tomato paste on the shells during the last fifteen minutes of roasting. You can skip this step, but the flavor of the finished stock will have a milder lobster flavor.
Put the roasted shells in a stock pot along with the rest of your ingredients. Cover with cold water, and slowly bring the temperature up to a simmer. Adjust heat to maintain a slow simmer. Simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain and chill.
To save storage space, you can reduce the stock by half by gently boiling on the stove. Either way, store in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for 3 months.
How to Purchase Restaurant Quality Lobster Stock
If you don't like the idea of making it yourself or don't want to stink up your house with the smell of simmering lobster shell, there is an alternative.
A company called More Than Gourmet makes a shell fish product called Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold that is essentially a 20 to 1 lobster stock reduction. Every ounce of this product reconstitutes to 20 ounces of restaurant quality lobster stock.
To learn more about this product, how to use it, and where to purchase it, click on Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold.
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