Having homemade all natural fish stock on hand is essential in order to make wonderfully delicious and nutritious soups, stews, sauces, etc. I am relatively new to making fish and beef stocks but have years of experience making my own chicken and turkey stocks. Really, the process is quite simple and with a little practice it quickly becomes a simple task. I now ensure to have one and two cup glass jar servings of a variety of stocks frozen in the freezer at all times. With a little bit of advanced planning it is easy to defrost smaller serving sizes and thus not relying on store bought stocks which generally come in single-use disposable plastic containers.

I pre-order 4 pounds of fish bones (with heads if available, gills removed) from a local fish market. When I go to pick up my order I take along with me a large air-tight re-usable food-safe container. The first time I did this, the container I took was too small and was disappointed to have to haul my fish bones home in the double wrapped plastic bags provided. This very large container from Life Without Plastic is an ideal size.

Here is a link to the recipe I used as a template. Generally speaking, because my kids and I have food sensitivity issues I have to make adjustments to just about every recipe I find. Though challenging at times, what is exciting to learn is that things can work out surprisingly well, even when you colour outside of the lines!

Here is my version of an easy Fish Stock Recipe:

• 4 lbs. Halibut fish bones, with heads if available (gills removed). Rinsed under cold water.
  • The fish bones I get still have a generous amount of flesh
• 16 Cups cold water
• 1 Cup dry white wine
• 1 medium carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 medium leek, roughly cut
• 2 TBPS Olive Oil

1) Heat Olive Oil a large stock pot. Sweat leek and carrots for 5 minutes, covered.

2) Add rinsed fish bones to stock pot, cover and sweat another 5 minutes.

3) Increase the heat and add wine allowing it to simmer a few minutes before adding the water. Increase the heat again brining the stock to a simmer. Simmer, lightly covered for 30 – 45 minutes or longer if time allows.

4) Allow to cool. Strain the bones and vegetables from the pot without stirring up the stock. Cool and refrigerate completely before transferring to freezer safe containers. Remember to allow enough space at the top of your freezer bound jars allowing for expansion.