Name: Easy Lobster and Shrimp Stock for Grilled Paella
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Yield: One Gallon plus
Ingredients: lobster shells from 6-7 one and a half pound lobsters; shrimp shells from ten pounds of peeled shrimp, rinsed; 6 chopped carrots; 6 chopped stalks of celery; 3 medium sized onions, quartered; 2-3 medium tomatoes, quartered; 2 handfuls of fresh parsley; 3 bay leaves; 1 dozen whole peppercorns; about 10 quarts of cold water; 2 cups of white wine

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Easy Lobster and Shrimp Stock for Grilled Paella

The American University Field Hockey Team team arrived in town last weekend for game matches on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday evening we hosted the Team Family dinner, and also welcomed local parents and those who had traveled in for the weekend sporting events. The usual fantastic Tailgates among the families followed each of the exciting games on both days.

Preparing for the event had its own challenges beyond the food and details, having been so under the weather the past couple of weeks that the only way to pull this through successfully was to visit the local family physician, and hence also have to re-schedule an interview with a local chef for my usual posting. Fortunately, my energy resumed and I was soon off on the race to make the weekend events come together in a little less time than anticipated.

This week I will share with you a few recipes and amount ingredients for large group parties that could easily serve 35-50 guests, including the Centerpiece dish served at the Team Family Dinner on Friday Evening: Grilled Paella.

Today we’ll make the Easy Lobster and Shrimp Stock later poured steaming hot into the Paella Grill Pan with the rice. The Easy Lobster and Shrimp Stock demonstrates for you how simple it is to prepare your own homemade stock, even when you are under the weather as I was.

It really takes little effort and even if you take a few shortcuts in a pinch as I did you can still end up with an exceptional pot of stock.

You will need a large 12-14 quart Stockpot about 10 inches high, my stockpot below is close to twenty years old and it still functions as good as new.

Since the Spotlight Main Course Dish for the Team Family Dinner was Grilled Paella with Shrimp and Mussels I planned to use a Lobster and Shrimp Stock to cook in the rice.

Whenever I serve lobster over the summer months, I always save the shells and freeze them to prepare a nice stock in the fall. Once over this past summer an eager guest disposed of all of the shells before making my announcement to save them so having fewer shells than usual for this stock I decided to combine the shrimp shells from the ten pounds of shrimp peeled for the Grilled Paella Dish and this created a rich, flavorful base.

The Grilled Paella went over spectacularly with the Team and Family Members and I will share the recipe with you on the next Post.

Hope your season is going well and if you too plan to wow the crowd with a couple pans of Grilled Paella, even with limited time, you can prepare an excellent, Easy Lobster and Shrimp Stock, insuring a winning flavor for your big party dish too. Go Team.