"Kent" <> wrote in part >
>
> Peel shrimp and save shells. Shells onto skillet; brown shells slowly for
> 10 minutes. Add water to skillet. Reduce down to to make concentrated
> shrimp stock. Incorporate that into your recipe.
>
> It will enhance the shrimp flavor a lot!
> Kent

Kent, if you please, do details of this process for us. I always make a
shrimp stock from the shrimp peeling 'remains' but the browning notion is a
new one to me. Sounds very clever. By skillet, I'm assuming you mean a
well-seasoned cast iron one. I guess how much water would be determined by
the amount of shells you have. Don't know if you've hit on a well-kept
secret or a super new invention - either way, I want to know more. Polly

"Polly Esther" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Kent" <> wrote in part >
>>
>> Peel shrimp and save shells. Shells onto skillet; brown shells slowly for
>> 10 minutes. Add water to skillet. Reduce down to to make concentrated
>> shrimp stock. Incorporate that into your recipe.
>>
>> It will enhance the shrimp flavor a lot!
>> Kent
>
> Kent, if you please, do details of this process for us. I always make a
> shrimp stock from the shrimp peeling 'remains' but the browning notion is
> a new one to me. Sounds very clever. By skillet, I'm assuming you mean a
> well-seasoned cast iron one. I guess how much water would be determined
> by the amount of shells you have. Don't know if you've hit on a well-kept
> secret or a super new invention - either way, I want to know more. Polly
>
I just put the shells into a small non-stick saute pan with a bit of olive
oil, and very lightly brown them, 8-10 minutes at a low temp. The low temp
is important. Then add water to cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Not much
time is needed to extract what is in the shrimp shell. Then remove the
shells and reduce the newly created stock to where you want it. This did
come from Mark Miller when he owned the 4th St. Grill in the socialist
republic of Berkeley years ago, and before he became famous. I do something
like this with most stock I make, though in the oven. Any veal or beef stock
gets browned along with an onion in the oven @ 325F or so for 30-45 minutes
before water is added. This renders some of the fat and it richens the
flavor. I do it with uncooked fowl, though most fowl has already been cooked
and I don't. I haven't done it with crab. I always keep the leftover steamed
dungeness crab skeleton and make stock for an upcoming crab souffle or for
crab newberg. I'm getting hungry as I type.

Kent