Basic Sofrito Recipes

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine green peppers, red peppers ajies dulces, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Add cilantro, recao, salt, and pepper. Process to the consistency of semi-chunky salsa (not watery). Place in a resealable plastic freezer bag, and use as needed, or freeze in portions.

Steps:

• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Cut green bell pepper and red bell pepper in half from top to bottom; remove the stem, seeds, and ribs. Place peppers cut sides down onto the prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
• Roast under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Seal to let peppers steam as they cool, about 15 minutes. Remove skins under running water and discard. Chop flesh into large pieces.
• Place pepper pieces, sweet chile peppers, onion, scallions, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, culantro, olives, oregano, and capers in a blender or food processor. Blend, adding 1/2 cup olive oil and water in batches, until mixture is pureed but some chunks remain.
• Divide blended mixture among four 16-ounce containers, filling each 3/4 of the way. Top each with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil to help preserve mixture. Close containers and refrigerate.

Steps:

• Coarsely chop tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Combine with garlic and cilantro. In batches, pulse mixture in a food processor until finely chopped. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Add mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced, 25 to 30 minutes (reduce heat if browning at edge). To store, let cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container; refrigerate, up to 2 weeks, or freeze, up to 6 months.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the scallions, onions and tomato. Cook until the onions are soft and golden and the tomatoes have broken down, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add cilantro, and salt and pepper.
• Transfer to a bowl. Use warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• In a sauce pot set on medium, cook the bacon in the olive oil for 30 seconds. Add red and yellow peppers, onions, and garlic, and saute until soft. Add the habanero, jalapeno, and saffron, cook for 1 minute. Add the sherry and cream if desired. Reduce by 1/4, cool and puree in a blender.

Steps:

• Melt the butter or heat the oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and golden and the tomato is broken down and pasty. This should take about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.

Steps:

• Separate and peel garlic cloves. Place garlic and remaining ingredients in a food processor; cover and process until finely chopped. , Use immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week. May also be frozen in small portions in resealable freezer bags for up to 1 month.

Steps:

• *Time Required:* Most time is just waiting (soaking, pressure cooking). This is a big batch of beans, so you can save some for another night, which will save a lot of time. Two sessions: (1) 15 minutes in the morning. (2) 65 minutes in the afternoon. *In the morning:* Pick over the black beans to remove the ugly ones (shriveled or discolored ones, stones, etc). Bring 6 cups water, the 1 lb beans to boil (took about 10 minutes). Let boil for one minute. Turn off heat and soak for at least 1 hour, up to 6 hours. *Prepare sofrito:* Combine in coffee grinder: 2 tspn salt and the spices (1 TB minced chipotle pepper, 3 bay leaves, 8 sage leaves, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 arbol chili). Whirr to pulverize them. Add to blender with about 8 minced garlic cloves, 1 TB olive oil, 1 TB vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Pulse the blender. Let sit about 5 minutes so the garlic releases its flavor. Meanwhile, roughly the onion and the red pepper and add to the blender. Blend everything until smooth, then set the blender aside. *In the afternoon, pressure cook:* Add 2 Tb olive oil to the beans in the pressure cooker pot (no need to replace the liquid). Lock lid, heat to high pressure (takes about 13 minutes), then reduce to med-high heat and let rock 13 minutes. Turn off the heat and let pressure release naturally (takes about 20 minutes). *Real cooking:* After the pressure cooker cools and the pressure releases, remove 1/3 cup cooked beans, add to the blender with sofrito and blend until smooth. This makes about 2-1/2 to 3 cups of thick, light brown sofrito. Reserve 1 cup liquid from the pot of beans. Pour the sofrito from the blender into the pot of beans, then use the cup of reserved liquid to rinse the rest of the sofrito from the blender, and pour it all into the pot. Simmer about 15 minutes over medium heat. Stir every couple of minutes, to fully mix in the solids collecting on the bottom. When a black crust starts to form between stirrings, it is done. Turn off the heat and mix the crust in. *Freeze and Substitute for Canned:* You will have about 7 cups of prepared black beans (about 14 servings), which can be divided among 4 pint-sized freezer containers (about 1-3/4 cups each) and used in any recipe that calls for a 15.5 oz. can of black beans. Let cool, tighten lids and store in freezer. If you remember in the morning, thaw a container on the counter. Otherwise, you'll need to thaw frozen beans. Either heat them in a rice cooker for about 20 minutes, or in a saucepan over low heat for about 15 minutes, breaking them apart every few minutes. *Notes:* (1) Refried beans are very easy. One serving would be about 3/4 cup. Add a little olive oil to a skillet, just a bit more than you need to prevent sticking. Use an old-fashioned potato masher as you heat them. Obviously, you need to add minced garlic :). (2) Black bean soup for 2-3 servings is very easy. Saute a finely diced small onion in some oil. Add a minced garlic clove and maybe a 1/4 tspn of ground cumin for about the last minute before adding 2 cups of broth and one container of black beans. Bring to a simmer. If you want to thicken it a little, you could add 1/4 tspn corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water or 1/4 tspn of chia seeds. Add a squeeze of lime juice, maybe a tspn or two, and serve hot. Great with guacamole. (3) Soaking time can last, say, 1-6 hours. For black beans, 1 hour is minimum for digestibility, and 6 hours is maximum for firmness. If you like mushy beans, you can soak black beans overnight. (4) Substitute any sofrito ingredients or recipes to your liking. Definitely add 1/3 cup of beans to the blender, since you need to release their starch to thicken the black bean sauce. The bay leaves will be pulverized into the sofrito, so no sharp edges. You won't need to remove them as in ordinary usage. (5) Nutrition data: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin C, Thiamin, Iron, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber and Folate. Each freezer container has about 26 g of high quality protein. At 3.5 half-cup servings per container, that's 7 grams protein/serving.

Steps:

• In a large food processor or blender, blend the peppers and garlic until smooth.
• Add the onion and blend until smooth, then add the culantro and cilantro, and blend until smooth. The sofrito will keep covered in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Steps:

• Remove skins from onion and garlic.
• Remove seeds from green and sweet chili peppers.
• Rinse in water.
• Then finely chop these ingredients, including the cilantro.
• Place a heavy-bottomed pot over low heat; add oil and oregano.
• Add the chopped ingredients.
• Continue cooking for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure an even blending of the flavors.
• Now you are ready to continue with the rest of the dish being prepared.