Cilantro-Lime Sofrito

By lorik

Recipe adapted from from Annie Pettry, Decca, Louisville, KY

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 cups finely chopped yellow onion (3 to 4 medium onions)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (1 large clove)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• Zest of 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon, fresh lime juice (1 lime)

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 85mins
Adapted from tastingtable.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and salt, and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook the onions slowly, stirring often, until they are soft and light golden, 1 hour. Add the garlic and cook until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro, lime zest and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt. Let cool.

Suggested Uses:
Grilled Meats: Heat one-half cup of leek or white sofrito in a sauté pan, remove it from the heat and fold in one tablespoon each of parsley and other chopped herbs that complement whatever meat you're cooking, like tarragon for beef, mint for lamb or oregano for chicken. "The sofrito adds depth to grilled meats," Pettry says.

Breakfast Everything: "We use the sofrito all over staff meal breakfast," Pettry says. Add a few tablespoons of white sofrito and chopped herbs to soft-scrambled eggs. Or fry potatoes, then toss them in the sofrito of your choice with some lemon zest and salt.

Corn Chowder Starter: Pettry cuts out the 45 minutes she'd usually spend slowly softening onions for a chowder base by using the white sofrito instead. Make a roux by heating up half a cup of the sofrito until it bubbles, and then add one-quarter cup of flour, cooking them while stirring for five minutes until almost completely dry. Slowly whisk in two cups of milk, one cup of cream and three cups of vegetable or corn stock, bringing the mixture to a simmer and cooking it down until the lot thickens slightly. Add four cups of corn kernels and let it all come together for 10 minutes. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Chicken Liver Quick Fix: For a quick liver-and-onion dish, sear one pound of chicken livers in enough butter to coat the pan, then melt in one-quarter cup of white sofrito. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and cook until the livers are slightly pink inside. Add a handful of chopped parsley and some lemon zest; let them cook down for five minutes. "The sweetness and acidity of the sofrito and balsamic pull out some of the mineral tang of the livers," Pettry says. To remove even more of the funk, she suggests soaking the livers in salted ice water for a few hours prior to cooking.