SOUP
Sopas de Habichuelas negra - Black bean soup
This is a hardy dish that can be enjoyed as a meal alone. It can be accompanied with rice or toasted French or Italian bread with Garlic and olive oil and a nice salad.
1 lb. of dried black beans
1/2 lb. of cooking ham ( ham steak) sliced into cubes
2 - Bay leaf
1 - Tablespoon of oregano
6 - Tablespoons of sofrito ( check the foundation page for this recipe)
2 - Quarts of cold water
4 - Table spoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Place beans in a 6 to 8 quart soup pot check an remove any that damaged or broken , remove any stones. Rinse under cold running water and drain.
If you plan to make the soup on the next day let them soak over night in water just enough to cover them. On the next day drain water and add 2 quarts of fresh cold water and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and let simmer.
If you plan to have them the same day put enough cold water to cover the beans place on the range with high heat and bring to a boil. Turn off burner and let stand for 1 hour.
In a hot frying pan pour in 4 Tablespoons of olive oil and 6- Tablespoons of sofrito, cook slowly over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes and then add the cubes of ham. Continue sautéing until the flavors have combined and the sofrito has reached a light brown in color. Remove contents of pan and pour in bean pot. return pan to the stove and de glaze pan with 1 cup of broth from the soup pot.
Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan and reduce the liquid by half. Pour remaining liquid into the soup pot. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer slowly stirring occasionally Allow to cook covered for 1 hour then remove cover and let broth thicken to a not to thick consistency. This soup is delicious with Teaspoon or two of chopped raw onion sprinkled on top.
Note: You can use this recipe for a black bean dish by using less liquid.
Asopao
Here is one version of the famous asopao. You can consider this a one-meal dish because it has everything but the kitchen sink. You can make this dish with chicken, beef, pork ribs, dried codfish or any combination of the above. The recipe I am offering here is an asopao de bacalao, which is made with dried codfish. This is great on a cold winter day. It has also been known to replace the hair of the dog that bit you after a night of strong partying. If you get my drift, then you partygoers know what I'm talking about.
Ingredients:
1- One package of boneless dried codfish.
2- One half cup of sofrito. (You can find the recipe for sofrito on our foundation page.)
3- One eight ounce can of tomato sauce.
4- Four tablespoons of tomato paste.
5- Two quarts of cold water.
6- One small jar of green olives (For this dish I prefer the ones with the pit they seem to hold up better.)
7- Salt and pepper to taste. ( Please don't add the salt until almost the end because the fish is salty enough)
8- Three to four tablespoons of olive oil.
9- One cup of long grain rice. (More or less depending on how thick you want the asopao.)
10- One tablespoon of oregano ( More or less depending on your taste.)
Preparation:
1- Remove codfish from package and rinse under cold water for a few minutes. Place in a large covered bowl covered with cold water and leave over night.
2- When you are ready to prepare the dish rinse the codfish under cold water once more and set aside.
3- In a large heavy pot add olive oil and bring up to heat. When you see the oil start to smoke add the sofrito and stir, add tomato paste and oregano stir once again. When the mixture starts to bubble add tomato sauce and stir. It is very important that you stir the mixture when adding the ingredients so that it does not burn. Next add the olives and then the codfish making sure to flake it. Now add water and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil lower the flame and allow it to simmer. This would be a good time to taste and adjust as needed. If you find that it has sufficient salt just add pepper. Check that you have enough liquid if not you can add more don't worry remember this going to be a soup. At this point you can add the rice and bring up the heat until it starts to boil. Now lower the heat and let simmer. You will know it is done when you see that the rice is nice and soft. If you find that it is too thick you add a can of chicken broth.
I hope that you will enjoy this dish and as I've said in the past if you follow the above instructions you won't be sorry for the time you put in to create this wonderful dish.
Sancocho
I'm sure that all cultures have many, one-dish meals. By that I mean that the main meal consists of only one dish with maybe a side of bread. Well This is one of those meals that can be complemented with a loaf of French, Italian bread or a side dish of plain white rice. It contains different cuts of beef, pork ribs, chicken, smoked cooking ham, stuffed plantain balls and tropical vegetables. Once again I'm going to warn you that the preparation for this dish is time consuming. I wouldn't advise you to try making this after coming home from a hard day on the job. However it would be great to have in the refrigerator & ready to heat up when you got home. This is one of those meals that always taste better the next day. At this time I would like to thank my Mom for teaching me the recipe for this dish and all the other recipes on this web page. I say this because I can still remember the time & love, she would put into everything she prepared in the kitchen & especially this particular meal.
This recipe will feed six to eight easily with some left over for you to put in the freezer. The reason for this is that Mom cooked not only for us, the family but also for whoever would come by. You can be sure that we had a full house when mom made Sancocho. So if you find that it is too much for you at this time please try and adjust the recipe.
Ingredients:
1-One to one and half pounds of soup meat.
2- One medium soup chicken. (Cut up into serving pieces).
3- One pound of cooking ham or ham steak. (Diced into one inch square pieces).
4- One to two pounds of pork spare ribs. (Separated and cut in half).
5- Two packages of chorizo. (They usually come two in a package, unless your Butcher carries them fresh in that case get four of them).
6- One pound of yautia, peeled rinsed and cut into quarters.
7- Six green plantains peeled and cut into thirds.
8- One malanga about two pounds peeled and cut into two-inch pieces.
9- One pound of yuca peeled and cut into quarters.
10- Four or five green bananas peeled and cut in half.
Note:
Once you have peeled the vegetables it is important that they be placed into a pot with cold water and salt. This will keep the vegetables from turning color.
11-One cup of sofrito
12- Six tablespoons of oregano
13- Salt and pepper to taste
14- One can of tomato sauce
15- Four tablespoons of tomato paste
16- Six quarts of cold water
17- Four tablespoons of olive oil
18- Two tablespoons of white vinegar
19- One medium jar of Spanish olives
Are you still with me? I told you that this one was a winner, and we haven't even started yet. Well for those of you that are still with me, & are adventurous let's get ready to cook. I promise that you won't be sorry, you may put on a few pounds, so please don't blame me.
Preparation:
1-Pour the four tablespoons of olive oil into a large pot, (Remember all the ingredients so please make sure it's large) and bring up to heat when it starts to smoke add the ham and Chorizo stir. You want it to get a golden brown in color. Once that's done add the cup of sofrito and keep stirring. When you see that it is beginning to bubble, stir in the tomato paste. This would be a good time to check the heat because you don't want this mixture to burn, so if you feel that it should lowered do it now.
2- Once the tomato paste has blended into the mixture stir in the tomato sauce and allow it to blend into the mixture.
3- This a good time to add the seasonings oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Allow for the oregano to work its magic and when your kitchen starts giving off aromas like it never did before turn up the heat and add three quarts of water.
4- Add soup meat, chicken and ribs bring to a boil for about fifteen minutes and then lower the heat down to a simmer.
5- When the chicken is just about fork tender remove from pot and set aside. Do the same with the soup meat and the ribs.
6- Return enough soup meat to the pot so that when shredded it will make about one half cup.
7- Allow the soup meat to cook until it is soft enough to shred and then remove and set aside.
8- In a small frying pan add two tablespoons of olive oil and bring up to heat. Add two tablespoons of sofrito and about six or seven chopped up olives add the shredded soup meat and blend together. Add salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat and set aside.
9- At this time you can add the vegetables to the pot with the broth. Add all but four plantains and allow to simmer slowly on low heat. This would be a good time to check to see if you have enough liquid if not add more water.
10- Take the four plantains you have left and grate them. It is important that you use a grater for this part of the recipe, because using a blender will not cut it.
11- Once you have grated the plantains scoop up a large table spoon of the mixture and place it in the palm of your clean hands. Form a small pocket and add a teaspoon or a little more of the shredded soup meat mixture in the center of the pocket, and then form it into the shape of a ball.
12- Making sure that your pot is at a low boil, add the balls to the pot being careful that they do not break apart.
13- Once the vegetables are almost fork tender return the meat that was set aside and continue cooking. Allow to cook until you have a rich thick broth, at this time you can adjust the seasonings to your taste.
Well that wasn't bad was it? I only hope that I made my Mom Proud with this recipe. Now remember that a side dish of white rice is just the compliment to this dish. If you decide the bread well that's OK too.
Enjoy and please let me know what you thought of this dish.
Johnny
El Hijo De Flora