Make your own stock cubes

I made a fish pie today. I'll give you instructions for that sometime in the future. But I just thought I'd offer this tip that cropped up during the process.  I'd bought some whole prawns as part of the fishy bit.  I shelled them and kept the meats for the pie but I made a stock out of the shells by boiling them up with a half a stick of celery, a small onion, a squeeze of lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper. I let it boil for about 20 minutes then strained it through a sieve and let it cool.

I had loads more than I needed for sauce for the pie so I reduced down the remainder (that means boiling it rapidly until it's only a quarter to a third of the original volume) and then poured it into an ice cube bag and froze it. Next time I need some fish stock all I have to do is break out an ice cube and drop it into whatever I'm cooking.

You can do the same with any stock you make. Ensure you label it well if you do. It's a bit difficult to tell the difference between chicken and fish once it's frozen!