Lobster Stock

A super flavorful lobster stock recipe for use in soups, stews and casseroles.

Lobster Stock is an ingredient very versatile in recipes such as soups, seafood stews, and casseroles. It’s also incredibly delicious!

But unfortunately, Lobster Stock isn’t something that you can easily find at the supermarket, so we make it at home instead.

Anytime we cook steamed or boiled lobsters at home (like we did for our Surf & Turf recipe from earlier this week), Jack will save the lobster shells after we’ve enjoyed the lobster meat for our dinner. He simply places the shells from the lobster tail, claws, legs, and outer body—but not the inner body of the lobster—in a zipper seal bag, then places the bag in the freezer.

Then, as soon as we have enough (usually shells from five or six lobsters will do) he makes this fantastic Lobster Stock recipe.

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How do you make Lobster Stock?

Our Lobster Stock is made with all kinds of flavorful ingredients including shiitake mushrooms, onions, garlic, carrots, tomato paste, and fennel plus crushed up lobster shells.  We add more flavor with a good  splash of dry sherry, plus white wine or vermouth—which can all be left out if you prefer, but they do add a nice undertone of flavor to the finished stock.

Fresh parsley, thyme and bay leaves (plus salt and pepper) season our finished Lobster Stock—all flavors that complement the lobster, but keep the stock neutral enough that this Lobster Stock can be used in many other recipes.

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Once your Lobster Stock has simmered and reduced, cool, then place in quart-sized zipper seal bags.  Lay the bags flat on a tray and freeze until firm. Then – you’ll have a stash of Lobster Stock in the freezer for use in recipes like our Lobster Bisque recipe (coming on Friday)!

You may enjoy these other Lobster recipes:

• Lobster Newberg
• Lobster Corn Chowder
• Lobster Mac and Cheese
• Surf and Turf
• New England Lobster Roll

We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!

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Lobster Stock

Yield: 1 quart 1x

Prep: 20 minutesCook: 3 hoursTotal: 3 hours 20 minutes

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Units: USM

Scale: 1x2x3x

Ingredients

2 ounces dry Shiitake mushrooms*

1 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound onion, coarsely cut up

3/4 pound carrots, coarsely cut up

4 celery stalks plus any leaves from the celery head

1/2 pound fennel (tops and fronds plus enough of the bulb to equal 1/2 pound total)

4–6 lobster shells** (crushed)

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 6–ounce can tomato paste

1/2 cup sherry

1/2 up vermouth or white wine

8 whole peppercorns

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 bay leaves

Small bunch of parsley including stems

Same amount of fresh thyme (small bunch)

2 quarts good quality vegetable stock

1 quart of water

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Instructions

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour over hot water to reconstitute the mushrooms. Do not discard the liquid. Let this sit until a later step.

In a large, wide bottomed pot, add butter and oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and fennel along with the crushed lobster shells and cook and toss with a heavy wooden spoon for ten minutes, being careful not to let the mixture stick. Add more oil if needed.

Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for three minutes, again, stirring often.

Add the sherry and vermouth and stir to deglaze.

Add the remaining ingredients including the reserved mushrooms and mushroom water, bring to a boil, then lower to a fast simmer and cook for about three hours.

You want to reduce the liquid to 4 cups (one quart). Depending on how fast the liquid evaporates, the stock could be reduced to one quart in less than three hours so check at 90 minutes, then every 30 minutes to make sure too much doesn’t evaporate. (If the stock evaporates too soon, just add a little more water). Again, the end goal is four cups of liquid.

Strain and discard all solids. Use immediately or cool and freeze in quart zipper bags with all air pushed out.

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Notes

*Fresh Shiitake mushrooms may be substituted. Increase amount of fresh mushrooms to 5 ounces.

**Lobster shells should be claws, knuckles, tails, legs and outer body shells but not inner body. The inner body should be discarded. Use a mallet, potato masher or whatever means you have and crush the shells as much as possible, saving any liquid that is left after crushing.

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© Author: A Family Feast

Cuisine: American Method: stovetop

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