# Sofritos Recipes Por Favor!



## bluezebra (May 19, 2007)

Hi all! Can I get your tried and true sofritos recipes please? I just made a pot of fresh pintos from the farmers market and want to add sofritos to it. I have a recipe that I've used for years and it's basically like cooked pico degallo so it has tomato in it as well as cilantro.

I was looking for traditional recipes and know they vary between cultures... so thanks in advance!!! :smiles:


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

This is everything I know on the topic, and it's not much.

http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/food-...-question.html

Also see Daisy Martinez site where she has both a latin sofrito and a recaito:
http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_main.cfm

Box on the lower right has the recipe links.


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

(empty)


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## bluezebra (May 19, 2007)

Thanks Luc and phatch.

phatch - nice explanation of sofrito. Isn't it so strange how the same term is carried out through so many cultures and is so varied between each? I found Daisy's recipe last night when googling for this and a couple of things made me file it for "later". 1. The quantity is way more than I need to make and I don't feel like freezing it for later (stupid I know). 2. I don't have the culantro leaves nor do I have a source for them yet and also I don't have the special peppers. I want to make this dish as closely as possible to her recipe because it looks very intense and delicious to me from the ingredient list!

Luc - thanks for telling me about this! You know it is so strange to see this because this is how my dad's marinara sauce and also shrimp creole starts off. The secret to his sauces were that you had to sweat the onions and green bell pepper until tender and sooooo soft then brown your paste and it was a very slooooow process! It sometimes took him as long as an hour to brown the paste. I think it would be deadly in chili! I will have to try it sometime. I never thought of referring to this mixture as a sofrito but it is! Maybe it's as much a flavorant or base technique for layering flavors in a dishes as it is a recipe? (along the lines of a mirapoix is also a flavorant or base technique for layering recipes).

The one I usually make is this: (sorry for not having exact measures...I just throw in a bit of this and that).

1 large yellow onion (Texas 1014s or Spanish or Vidalia)
4 Roma tomatoes (seeded and skinned)
8 Cloves garlic
4 Strips of bacon, chopped and fried till cooked but not crisp
3 Jalapenos (2 seeded carefully to keep them mild, 1 hot with seeds)
1 Handful of chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)
1/2 Lime, fresh
Salt and black pepper

*Note - all of these quantities are guestimates from memory. The only things I'm certain of are the pepper quantities and onion. I just pull off some bacon. It could be 3 strips or it could be more like 6. I don't think it matters terribly. As for the garlic, well I just crush cloves for chopping till I'm sick of doing it. I usually go pretty heavy on garlic in ethnic dishes so I would say it's more than 4 and less than 10 somewhere in there!  The cilantro I never measure. I just tear off a whack and start chopping like mad with a very sharp knife to keep from bruising it too badly. I add tomato until it looks like the right amount of red. <blush> very scientific, I know. The lime I just squeeze in till it tastes right. I grow my own limes and what I have found is they are very intensely flavored and sour. So I usually use about 1/2 as much as when I use storebought. So I use about 1/4 of a lime if I'm using them from my tree.

Then I just sweat everything for a long time till it's all tender and yummy. I use this alot to flavor my pot of borracho beans and also to form the base for my quesos and sometimes (not usually) as an addition to my rice. I also use this in one of my enchilada sauces.

What I found as I was looking for recipes for this last night was that cilantro wasn't original to a sofrito recipe...but it didn't really say in which quisine the sofrito originated. I am going to try another recipe today for something a little different. It's on my other computer so I will transfer it over here and type it out. It has green bell pepper and also thyme and Mexican oregano.


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## even stephen (Oct 10, 2005)

Here is a soffrito I use for seafood soups and many pan braised seafood
dishes or steampots......

2 cups chopped anchovies fine
1/2 cup chopped garlic fine
1/4 cup chopped parsely
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

Combine all ingredients in storage container and drizzle evoo over.
You don't want to put the anchovies in a processor to chop, as they
will become a paste. I use this mixture to start the above type of 
dishes and soups......just add to pan and sweat......Most people who
don't like anchovies don't even know its in the dish.... it adds a richness,
almost a meaty demension to the soup or dish.....good luck.....of course 
for most sofritto is a mixture of aromatics......down south basically the 
trinity with the addition of garlic.......towards Louisiana perhaps add gumbo filet.........in mexico, probably onion and garlic.........I have seen some sofrittos in mexico where they almost burn onion and garlic in oil, discard
the garlic and onion and use the oil........especially for ceviche.....


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

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## bluezebra (May 19, 2007)

Thanks stephen! Gosh at first glance your recipe caused me to gulp!  I like anchovies but I was thinking...man 2cups, is that right?? I know my bagna cauda I make uses two cans lol and I agree, when you basically sweat it out with the garlic and oil, you just can't even distinguish what you would think of as anchovy! I will definitely be trying it but I might have to cut the recipe in 1/4's  so it doesn't make as much! Also I love the idea of making a flavored oil. That would be awesome in Spanish or Mexican rice where you just want a flavor coming through and not so much texture from added veggies! I could then use the browned onions and garlic in another dish!

Luc - I love when lightbulbs go off for me connecting something with another seemingly unrelated something! Especially when it happens with cooking. I think your explanation really makes sense (the Spanish/French terminology). I did like your thick flavorful broth post. Although you and I use a different way to get to the mirapoix and mine is more browned because of roasting in the roasting pan with bones, I'm thinking maybe a similar effect is arrived at? Although mine will have a brown taste more than yours?

Dad was the original anal retentive chef! lol! He would send onions and mirapoix type veggies back to us if they weren't chopped just so! Everything had to be the same size for a dish and forgettabout ever getting to be on the "meat station" in our family kitchen! No one could butcher or pick and prepare meat like dad lol. And it was true. He was an incredible cook and great fun to be around even though he was an intense and serious kitchen master!


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## even stephen (Oct 10, 2005)

So sorry, I failed to mention it was a bulk batch. You only need
a teaspoon or two for an "at home" dish. Am accustommed to 
making for a restaurant. It does keep well in the refrigerator for up
to 3 weeks, just keep in a sealed plastic container......


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## rrcos (Apr 2, 2007)

Hello..

Daisy Martinez recipe is a tried and true.. great sofrito..

I use sofrito daily and hers is the only one I've used in a long time..

Makes about 4 cups.

If you can't find ajices dulces or culantro, don't sweat. Up the amount of cilantro to 1 ½ bunches.

2 medium Spanish onions, cut into large chunks
3 to 4 Italian frying peppers or cubanelle peppers 
16 to 20 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large bunch cilantro, washed
7 to 10 ajices dulces (see note below), optional
4 leaves of culantro (see note below), or another handful cilantro
3 to 4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks

Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth.

The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan in any recipe that calls for it.

*Pantry Notes:* Ajices Dulces, also known as cachucha or ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. They add freshness and an herby note to the sofrito and anything you cook. Do not mistake them for Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like)--those two pack a wallop when it comes to heat. If you can find ajicitos in your market, add them to sofrito. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. It is a nice, not essential addition to sofrito. In my area.. I find that Culantro leaves are readily available at most asian markets.


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## bluezebra (May 19, 2007)

So I made the sofrito tonight. I made it without tomato this time for a difference and it was really good. Here's what I did.

1/2 lb bacon, chopped coarsely
1-1/2 yellow onions
3/4 of a large bell pepper
2 fresh jalapenos
2 tsp parsley flakes, dried
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano (out of Mexican oregano)
8 large cloves garlic
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Instructions:
Saute bacon pieces on medium until crisp. Remove bacon pieces and reserve grease. Add veggies and spices and cook on low until tender and falling to pieces (about 30-45 minutes). Add apple cider vinegar in the last 15 minutes of cooking and let it reduce. Taste to adjust salt and pepper. During the last 10 minutes of cooking I added back a light handful of the bacon pieces and let it cook into the sofrito. YUM!

I added 1/2 of the mixture to my 1-1/2lbs of fresh pintos after they were almost cooked through. At that point I added salt to the beans and let them simmer till tender. I had cooked them last nite with a couple of pieces of bacon and 1/2 of an onion and alot of water to make a borracho.

Two thumbs up for tomorrow!


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