Shellfish Stock

http://www.onlinerecipeguide.com/14/en/_Shellfish_Stock/1719/0

Ready in: 25 minutes.
Servings: 4 people.

Ingredients:

• 4-6 cups shellfish shells, from shrimp, lobster, and/or crab
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced or chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly sliced or chopped
• 1 celery stalk, roughly sliced or chopped
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• Several sprigs parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 10-15 whole peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

• Break thick shells (lobster and crab) into smaller pieces by putting in a sealed, thick plastic bag and either rolling with a rolling pin or hitting with a meat hammer to crush.
• Cut up thinner shrimp shells with a chef's knife.
• Don't crush or cut too small.
• You can even skip this step if you want, if you are already dealing with broken up shell pieces (like cracked crab).
• Put in a large stock pot and cover with an inch (but no more than an inch) of water.
• Put the stove temperature on medium high and slowly heat the shells in the water.
  
• As soon as you see that little bubbles are starting to come up to the surface, reduce the heat to medium.
• Do not let it boil.
• You want to maintain the temperature at just below a simmer, where the bubbles just occasionally come up to the surface.
• Do not stir the shells.
• Stirring will muddy up the stock.
• As the bubbles come up to the surface a film of foam will develop on the surface.
  
• Use a large slotted spoon to skim away this foam.
• Let the shells cook like this for about an hour; skim the foam every few minutes.
• The foam comes from shells releasing impurities as their temperature increases.
• Put the thyme, bay leaves, and parsley in cheese cloth.
• Secure with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni.
• Once the stock has stopped releasing foam, you can add the wine, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, herb bouquet garni, and peppercorns.
• Bring to a low simmer and reduce heat so that the stock continues to simmer, but not boil, for 30 minutes.
• If more foam comes to the surface, skim it off. Add salt and remove from heat.
• Dampen a few layers of cheesecloth and place over a large, fine mesh strainer, over a large pot or bowl.
• Pour the stock into the strainer.
• Discard the solids. Either use the stock right away, or cool for future use.
• If you aren't going to use in a couple of days, freeze (remember to leave some head room at the top of your freezer container for the liquid to expand as it freezes.)