In my usage, Sofrito is the name of a dish that has also been called "Dominican Risotto", even though it's only like risotto in that they're both rice dishes. Sofrito is the name that a friend called the dish, and has stuck with me to this day,and I added 'Bronx' to give a shout out to the friend who I credit with calling it Sofrito in the first place.
The basic idea is a baked chicken and rice dish. It's quite easy, as long as you have patience and are comfortable in a kitchen. "Quite easy" doesn't mean that there are only a few steps, as I'll show with the pictures, but this dish doesn't need to many objects, takes only rudimentary steps, can be made to make a large amount, and will impress anyone who will be eating.
This dish can be made a few different ways...I've made it using only my stock pot, but this time, having a few different tools/toys at my disposal, I used them instead. You can use water or stock, but stock will give the flavor more richness.
In a nutshell: using your biggest pot brown both sides of the chicken pieces and remove them; then add the mirepoix to the oil used for browning and saute until soft; then add the rice and toast for about a minute or two; then add the water/stock and other embellishments (Bronx Sofrito calls for green olives and canned tomato pieces), bring to a boil, replace the chicken and cover; put in the oven (preheat to 350) until done, between 20 and 60 minutes.
That's the nutshell summary. Here's a little photographic progression, with explanations.
This first picture is the start for me, early in the day. I decided, since I had mirepoix and chicken bones, that instead of regular chicken stock, I was going to make brown stock, which is when you roast your bones and vegetables long enough to nearly burn them. Then you put them into your stock pot and make stock. This adds a wonderful roasted flavor for all dishes to which it's added. Here are my bones and mirepoix roasting away.
Here's my misen place for the dish: two cups of white rice; oil; a bowl with a diced onion; a bowl of diced carrots, celery and garlic; a bowl with quartered green olives; white wine; and, of course, salt and pepper. My tomatoes were still in the cupboard. Set the oven to 350.
For me with this evening's dish, I was using chicken leg quarters: thighs and drumsticks. Here you can see them prepped out and ready to go: seasoned (salted and peppered).
Browning them means to fry them in hot oil on one side until it gets good color...
...and can be turned over to get the other side...
...until all pieces are seared. It's not important to cook them all the way! If you try to cook the chicken through, or anything that all you need to do is sear, you'll burn the outside. Searing is what you want to do to lock in the flavors. Here are the seared chicken thighs and drumsticks.
Into the searing oil first put the onion. It will help deglaze the pan and turn the oil into a mix of flavor and liquid.
Next, add the rest of the mirepoix: the carrots, celery and garlic. The onion almost always goes in first. I find that onion does its important work by itself, and the carrots and celery, when diced for nice mirepoix, are better served by going in after the onion is halfway done.
Then the rice goes in. Let it toast for a minute or two. After that I added the tomato and olive, folded them in, and the added about a half cup of the white wine. This, like any alcohol, enhances the flavor. By the time the brown stock is added, all the alcohol from the wine has been evaporated, and the aroma is delicious.
Since I have new gear, I transferred everything to that (now cleaned) casserole dish I used to roast the bones. The rice will feel like a thing between gravel and sand in the stock--don't worry, that's how it should be.
Put the chicken on top, cover it (with a lid if you have it), and put it into a pre-heated 350 degree oven.
The time it takes to finish will really depend on how much rice you have chosen to use. Two cups of rice and four cups of stock will give you plenty of food...well, plenty for two people, maybe just right for four.
Usually I put up a recipe here, but I'm assuming the photos explain it well enough. Hoping anyway.
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