Got crabs? ……I meant the shellfish.

Now that we’ve removed our minds from the gutter, let’s move on. If you do have some crabs boiling, don’t throw away those shells! Actually…shells, bones, fins, tails…keep it all from all your underwater friends! You can use it to make your own seafood stock for risottos, bisques, chowders and stews. It’s pretty simple to get going… and with a few helping hands, easy to finish.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb seafood shells, bones, etc
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 small onion
• 2 tbsp old bay seasoning
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 15-20 whole peppercorns
• water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450. Take your shells and bits and place them in a plastic bag. Using a rolling pin or something similar beat the pieces to break them up. Then place them on a cookie sheet and heat for about 10 minutes.

Once heated, transfer to a large pot and pour in enough water to cover by an inch and set the burner to high. While shells cook, roughly chop onion, celery and carrots and add to pot. Then peel your garlic and score the sides of your jalapeno. Add the garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns to some cheesecloth and wrap them up. Drop them in your pot and reduce heat to medium. Now add in your Old Bay and you are done. DO NOT STIR THIS DISH… or let it boil. Stirring will agitate all the bits and make it murky. Keep it just under a boil for about an hour and you’ll be all set.

When you’re done, enlist a brave friend and have her hold some cheesecloth over a second pot or storage containers. Strain stock through cheesecloth and taste it to see if you’re happy. You can freeze it for later use, just make sure to leave some space in your container.

It’s a simple recipe and damn tasty. You’ll be glad you made it and never want the store bought stuff again.