Friday September 12, 2014

Carole’s Concoctions:
Soffritto

It's funny how we take for granted the things we know how to do and just do them. It happens in all aspects of our lives - the things we do most naturally and happily are sometimes the things we need to think about and value more in ourselves.  When it comes to cooking there are so many little things that I just do.  I do them because I learned them by observation as a kid or in a cooking class along the way.  Nevertheless, one of those things my mom and nana made all the time was a soffritto - as a base for soups, stews, sauces etc.  Simply put it is the slow frying of onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Sometime, I add herbs like thyme, oregano or basil, salt and pepper.  But the technique is always the same. Heat up some oil, add the chopped onions first, then the carrots and celery, saving the garlic and any herbs for last.  Once it is slighly golden and aromatic,  I add my soup stock, wine or more ingredients.  I make lentil soup, beef stew and my latest concoction that I will be making on Newschannel13 on Sunday, Potato Leek Soup this way.

Perhaps you have a technique that you use that shows up in many of your dishes?  I would love to hear all about it.