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Get a taste of the Caribbean without leaving home

Red snapper with sofrito and Puerto Rican-style beef stew bring island flavor to your table

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Video: Snapper spiced up with sofrito

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    >>> this morning, cooking step by step puerto rico style. chef eric rippert of le bernardin from here in new york city joins us. good morning. what is sofrito ?

    >> sofrito in spain is just garlic, tomato anden i don't know. in puerto rico it's garlic, pepper, onion. in santa domingo it's more complex.

    >> you're making an adaptation of sofrito . i understand it's hard to get some of the peppers in the united states you can get in puerto rico .

    >> some you cannot find.

    >> in this part of the united states .

    >> exactly.

    >> what are we making?

    >> we are going to wet some onions like that.

    >> sweat them -- you mean saute them briefly?

    >> saute the onion. we have nice peppers. of course, garlic. followed with some jalapeno.

    >> and sofrito is versatile. you can use it for a lot of things.

    >> absolutely. when it's cooked it becomes like that.

    >> mm-hmm.

    >> sometimes you can freeze it and make ice cubes and keep it in the fridge.

    >> that's a modern twist on this. traditionally they would mince these up or mash them up with a mortar and pestle, right?

    >> yes, but nobody does that anymore because we have those machines. we are going to put it inside and what we are going to do is a sofrito butter. sofrito butter will be able to go on the fish, cook quickly.

    >> i will turn this down so you don't have to --

    >> we put the butter inside like that and we have to be cautious with these machines.

    >> so the quinconsistency, you are looking at butter here.

    >> right. this is the finished product. butter, salt, pepper. and then --

    >> can i taste it before we put it on?

    >> go ahead.

    >> it's really good. delicious. i was supposed to eat that raw, right? that's all right?

    >> we'll see in an hour. so we are brushing the snapper and the fish will go in the prebuttered platter like that. we are going to put a little bit of water so it will steam a little bit. and the butter is protecting the flesh so it won't be too dry.

    >> when you say a little water you mean to coat the bottom of the glass pan.

    >> yes. we are going to put it in the oven.

    >> how long will it cook?

    >> 400 degrees, about ten minutes.

    >> okay.

    >> when it comes out, you see --

    >> snapper is a fish that gets nice and flaky.

    >> oh, yes. it's a beautiful fish. when it comes out it's like that. we just have to plate it. so it's fairly easy.

    >> you're plating it with sweet potatoes .

    >> we have two colors here. the orange and yellowish. we are going to plate for presentation and so on. you can go more rustic if you want.

    >> what's in the sauce?

    >> we'll put in sofrito like that. that will flavor the sauce. we'll add lime juice. whisk it.

    >> whisk it -- not whiskey.

    >> whiskey would be a nice add.

    >> that crossed my mind.

    >> then you just have to sauce. it's a very light broth. it was a chicken stock , but very, very flavorful because of the sofrito , of course.

    >> just to show its versatility, the sofrito , you can add the sofrito butter to rice and you have made a beef dish as well.

    >> it's a typical puerto rico dish for winter.

    >> eric rippert , a pleasure to have you.

    >> how do you feel?

    Show transcript

TODAY recipes
updated 2/26/2011 11:09:08 AM ET 2011-02-26T16:09:08

Recipe: Baked red snapper with sofrito and sweet potato

Ingredients
  • For the sofrito butter and sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and sliced, optional
  • 1/2 small onion, peeled and sliced
  • 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • For the sweet potato:
  • 1 sweet potato, baked and cut into 1-inch discs
  • 1 white sweet potato, baked and cut into 1-inch discs
  • For the snapper:
  • 4 (7-ounce) snapper fillets
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the sweet potatoes in a baking dish, add 1/2 cup of water and cover with foil. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and easily pierced with a paring knife, about 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Slice the baked sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch-thick slices and using a 1-inch cutter, cut 20 disks from each sweet potato. Reserve on an ovenproof dish or tray.

For the sofrito butter, sweat red bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic and onion together in the canola oil until soft. Place the soft peppers in a blender and puree with the softened butter and cilantro. Remove from the blender and reserve.

Thoroughly season the snapper fillets on both sides with salt and pepper and place them in the baking dish; brush the top of the fillets with the sofrito butter and add enough water to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Put the baking dish in the oven and cook the fish until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, when left in for 5 seconds, feels warm when touched to the lip, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While the fish is cooking, bring the chicken stock to a boil and whisk in the remaining sofrito butter. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Place the sweet potato disks in the oven for 2 minutes to warm. Arrange the sweet potatoes, alternating the colors, in a circle toward the outside of each plate and place the fish in the center. Finish the sauce with the lime juice at the last minute and pour the sauce around each plate. Serve immediately.

Serving Size

4 servings

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Recipe: Puerto Rican-style white rice

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 3/4 cups long grain rice
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • 3 1/2 cups water
Preparation

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the rice to coat the grains with the oil. Cover with the water and salt and stir to incorporate. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat slightly and cover. Do not stir the pot after this point. Cook until the water has evaporated completely and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Serving Size

6 servings. Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 20 minutes.

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Recipe: Sancocho (Puerto Rican beef stew with sofrito)

Ingredients
  • 2 Italian frying peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 2 small red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 bunch cilantro, leaves picked (about 2 ounces)
  • 5 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 4 pounds beef shank, bone-in
  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 pound chorizo, sliced
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 green plantain, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
  • 1/2 cup medium-diced potato
  • 1/2 cup medium-diced celeriac
  • 1 avocado
Preparation

Make the sofrito by placing the Italian frying peppers, red bell pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro in the container of electric blender or bowl of food processor. Cover and blend or process about 20 seconds, or until coarsely chopped. Reserve.

Carve the beef off the bone and cut into 1-inch cubes, reserving the bones. Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a heavy-bottomed large pot. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Add the beef cubes and bones and brown on all sides. Add the reserved pepper mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chorizo and cook for 3-5 minutes. Cover with water and simmer for 2 hours, adding the plantain, potatoes and celeriac toward the last half hour. Add more water if the stew becomes too thick.

Discard the bones and divide the stew between six warmed bowls. Garnish with avocado slices over each bowl.

Serving Size

6 servings

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© 2013 NBCNews

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