Crab Stock/Crab Soup 10/24/10

[Baydreamer]

Wondering if anyone has an old fashioned recipe for Maryland Style crab soup using just crab stock made from crab shells,meat, and vegetables, Seems as though most recipes include beef or chicken, or bacon meat or stock?
Thanks in advance

[shedking]

A freind of mine does that. He puts the top shells in water and slowly simmers for an hour or so, after that he strains out the sloids and adds claws and simmers those as well. he then adds all the veggies and such and at the last half hour adds the crab meat. Never had any complaints from me.

[Mikie]

A freind of mine does that. He puts the top shells in water and slowly simmers for an hour or so, after that he strains out the sloids and adds claws and simmers those as well. he then adds all the veggies and such and at the last half hour adds the crab meat. Never had any complaints from me.

What the H*ll is a sloid?

[Dreampixels]

What the H*ll is a sloid?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sloid?qsrc=2446

[shedking]

ooops how bout solids. peices that are not liquid

[Chef Lar]

If you're looking to make a traditional crab stock, traditional meaning classical to us French Chefs, grab a pencil and paper and here goes.

This can be applied to any hard shell seafood product; i.e. shrimp shells, lobster shells, etc.  In a soup pot with a heavy bottom (not aluminum), melt a little butter or margarine and add a rough cut of carrots, celery, onion, and crab shells. Raw is best as in CBC, but left over legs, carapace, etc. will work. Sautee for about 5-10 minutes. Now here comes the fun part. Add some brandy and flambe'. Allow the flame to burn out and the alcohol off. Add you water and bring the mixture just up to a simmer. Do not boil. Seafood in this stage is too delicate to maintain a boil. Simmer for appx 45 minutes to an hour. Don't worry about that match stick that you threw in the pot to light the brandy. It will all be strained at this time. Season as needed. Yum.

[Ronster]

I'm hungry.

[Chef Lar]

Like I said before, you're always hungry. Wake the wife up and ask her to pour some cereal in a bowl, add some milk, and turn on cartoons. 

[Baydreamer]

Thanks for the stock recipe, sounds like the real McCoy. any more variations with that stock base?

[Chef Lar]

Any questions you have feel free to ask. Or shoot me a b-mail. More than happy to help out.  Making food taste better than it does already. And lastly, for everybody, think about this. It is one of the most basic principles of cooking. The caveman figured it out. Cooking is the application of heat to food to make it more digestible.

[CrabDog]

Sorry I like the beef veggie / Crab soup myself.....  my buddy makes his stock from chicken.. and others plain tomato base with crab.. so everyone has their preference....  and Larry is right on with the shell fish stock thing.. course he is a Chef so what do you expect....

[mdjohn]

yummy

[CrabDog]

I had added beef, ham, pork, venison and bacon but never chicken except as a stock

since I use it as a main dish served with a crusty bread -- I want a hearty and filling soup

having just a crab and vegetable mix, it will digest quickly and you'll be hungary again within an hour.

and if i were to use it as an appitizer soup - I would do cream of crab,, yummy

I agree with you.. My soup is a Beef Veggie MD crab soup.... but it is more like MD crab stew when I am done... hearty fills you up.. especially if the wife makes some biscuits or cornbread to go along on the side.. and lots of butter on em.. so when you dunk it in the soup the butter melts and ... I have to stop now as I am getting hungry.....   I also use cubed venison in place of beef stew meat.. bt I cut it into small pieces no bigger than an inch....

[Chef Lar]

I seem to have a tear in my eye. That Pup's not too bad after all.  Just thinking about variations on the stock. If someone wanted to make a basic fish stock, much of the same would be applied except the brandy and the flambe'. The best way would be to fillet fresh fish and save the carcass. Preferrably still whole and intact. Rinse the skeletal remains in cool running water for 15-20 minutes. Add the fish bones, carrot celery and onions to a pot. Parsley as well as other fresh, MILD herbs can be added at this time too. A slice or two of fresh lemon would be nice as well. Some black peppercorns and a little salt as well would be nice. Add the appropriate COLD water and bring the mixture up to a simmer. Again, never a boil. Fish and seafood are delicate items and the boiling, high heat process are not good in this application. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Strain and allow to cool, or vice sersa. After the stock is strained and allowed to rest, any sediment will settle to the bottom, and the nice clear stock can be ladeled off for use. You'll notice when using fresh salmon or other higher fat content fish a sort of gelatin will form when it is chilled. This is normal, and welcomed. Remember, salmon and other cold water fish are high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Thems the good ones. Bon Appetit mon aimee's.

[CrabDog]

So Larry when are you releasing the BCA cook book anyway.....?   

[Chef Lar]

Maybe that'll be my winter project. Maybe everyone can b-mail their favorite recipes and I can see about organizing them, trying them out, stuff like that. Of course I'll throw in my standard cheescake recipe, pizza crust, and a few others. Who knows, could be my new profession. Publisher.

[CrabDog]

Maybe that'll be my winter project. Maybe everyone can b-mail their favorite recipes and I can see about organizing them, trying them out, stuff like that. Of course I'll throw in my standard cheescake recipe, pizza crust, and a few others. Who knows, could be my new profession. Publisher.

I might know of a pretty good Md Crab Soup recipe along with a few others..

[jack1747]

Maybe that'll be my winter project. Maybe everyone can b-mail their favorite recipes and I can see about organizing them, trying them out, stuff like that. Of course I'll throw in my standard cheescake recipe, pizza crust, and a few others. Who knows, could be my new profession. Publisher.

Put a soft pretzel recipe in there. 

[Chef Lar]

Put a soft pretzel recipe in there.  

C'mon Jack. That would be like giving gold away. Some things I just can't do. I would be happy to sell you a reasonable facsimile though.

[mdjohn]

   AHHH the good old days

[Chef Lar]

Hey John, it's a good thing you stopped using that recipe. Making a roux from rendered fat, no matter what animal it comes from, is not healthy. I can't get into all the science and human correlation, but I do remember from my studies way back when. One of the first things I remember about this was being told not to make a roux from the fat off a turkey, in order to make the gravy. Consuming the fat as eaten is fine (as fine as eating fat can be), but once it's rendered and used in the cooking process, the body itself can not process in a way to get rid of the unwanted properties.

Yes it may taste good, but not necessarily good for you. Everything in moderation.

[Ronster]

The quality of life for those living past 75 is very overrated.   Give me all the bad stuff now and put me in a box early.

[Chef Lar]

The quality of life for those living past 75 is very overrated.   Give me all the bad stuff now and put me in a box early.

Agree totally. Quality of life over quantity of life anytime. Also, he who dies with the most toys is overrated.

[CrabDog]

C'mon Jack. That would be like giving gold away. Some things I just can't do. I would be happy to sell you a reasonable facsimile though.

you could make it a crab pretzel.. a couple of restuarants aroundhee seel crabs pretels.. big soft preztels filled or toped with crab meat .... yummmmmy...
beside you don't need the gold Larry... don't you know that the real gift is giving ........   you will be a much richer man by giving. ie that pretzel recipe....
OK I will be on the lookout for the pretzel recpe any moment now....


and whomever has the most toys when they dies wins not is over rated.. C'mon man... get it right Larry..

[Chef Lar]

Nah, the crab pretzels I'm thinking about will have crab spice either in them or on them. Same way with garlic, cajun, etc. All the hard pretzel companies do it. Look at Snyders, Herr's, etc. Just wait till you have the little dutch boy crabby soft pretzel. Uh, you better grab a napkin. You're starting to drool.