Whenever I’m eating crabs with my family I always collect all the top shells (carapace) and as many of the back fin legs I can. I use them for this crab stock recipe and always make extra. It freezes well as a base stock broth for MD Crab soup. I love to pull it out in the cold winter months for a taste of summer.
Ingredients
2 lb crab shells and claws (shells from about 1 1/2 dozen crabs)
8-10 c water
1 lg yellow onion roughly chopped
3 celery ribs trimmed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic whole, peeled and crushed
2 bay leaves
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tbs old bay
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2-3 shakes Worcestershire sauce
2-3 cube beef bouillon
extra seasoning from steamed crabs
Directions
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven over medium flame. Add crushed garlic, onion, celery, tomato paste, spices, and bay leaves. Let the pot heat until the contents are fragrant, constantly stirring.
Then add a little of the water to deglaze. Layer in the crab shells. Give a good stir to coat then cover with water. Add Worcestershire sauce, and beef bouillon. After bringing the pot to boil, turn the heat down to simmer for 2-3 hours. ⠀
Once cooled, strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer. This recipe makes 4 1/2-5 cups. At this point you can freeze it or make soup right away.
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