Get your yabbies out

There is a problem with yabbies. The meat of these shellfish, also called crayfish, is wonderfully sweet, but they're so much work, especially trying to get out all the meat from the tiny claws. I end up pulling off the heads to suck out the insides, eating the meat from the tails and letting someone more patient eat the claws.

Fortunately, the shells from crustaceans make wonderful stocks and sauces. If you eat a lot of yabbies, you can use the meat from the tails for one preparation and save the shells and heads for stock (this also works for shrimp).

Pull or cut the tails from the bodies (always save some whole yabbies to use as garnish). A wonderful pasta dish is sauted yabbies with cream and parsley. Boil the pasta until al dente. Just before draining the pasta, add the yabbies set aside for garnish to the pot. Cook until they turn red, then drain. Heat oil in a pan and saute chopped shallots and garlic until soft. Stir in the shelled yabby tails and cook for several minutes. Add the pasta with a little stock (seafood or chicken) or water then cover the pan with a lid and simmer for a few minutes. Remove lid, stir in heavy cream and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, to reduce the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and a little cayenne pepper, then sprinkle in chopped parsley. Divide between plates and garnish with the boiled yabbies.

You can save the yabby shells, well wrapped, in the freezer until you have enough to make a good stock. For yabby bisque, saute chopped carrots, onions and celery in a heavy stockpot until vegetables are soft. Add the yabby heads, bodies and claws and cook until shells turn red. Add enough water to cover contents of the pot, simmer, partially covered, for about an hour. Put a large, heavy, fine meshed sieve over another pan and pour the contents of the stockpot through the sieve. Press on the solids firmly, trying to extract all the tasty liqiud from the heads and bodies of the yabbies. Discard shells and vegetables.

Boil the stock over high heat to concentrate the flavour. Turn heat to low and whisk a few tablespoons of tomato paste into the stock. Stir in heavy cream and heat through, seasoning to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Thicken the bisque slightly with cornstarch dissolved in cold water. Just before serving, stir in Cognac or brandy and sprinkle with chopped parsley.