Sopish Recipes

PORTUGUESE SOPAS OR SOPASH RECIPE - (3.6/5)

Steps:

• Combine pot roast, garlic, tomato sauce, onion, parsley, celery, rosé, water, black pepper, salt, allspice, cumin, bay leaves, vinegar, and cabbage in a large pot Cover and simmer 6 hours. During last hour, uncover the pot. At serving time, cover bottom of large, shallow serving dish with bread slices. Lay lightly bruised mint leaves on top of the bread so each piece is touched by mint flavor. Ladle the hot sopas on top and eat immediately.

SOPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• Put the masa harina in a large bowl, pour in the water and get in there with your hands, kneading until you have a uniform dough. It should take only a minute or two. You want a nice, moist dough, so work in a little more warm water if it's dry. If it's sticky, work in a little more masa harina.
• Break the dough into four equal pieces and roll each one into a ball. Put the balls on a plate or cutting board and cover them with plastic wrap to keep the dough from drying out. One at a time, roll them out with a rolling pin or clean wine bottle until they're a thin circle about 1/4-inch thick. Brush a little of the vegetable oil on a skillet or comal and heat it over medium-high heat until it's good and hot. Carefully add the first sope and cook it until little brown blisters appear on the bottom, about 45 seconds. Flip it over with a spatula and cook for another 30 to 45 seconds. Flip it over again, count to 10 and transfer to the towel-lined baking sheet. Keep it warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining 3 sopes (adding a little more oil if you need to), and keep them in the oven until you're ready to serve them.
• Pour a couple of tablespoons of the oil into a skillet and add the chile, garlic and onions. Set the skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the huitlacoche (or mushrooms) along with a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the huitlacoche is heated through, about 5 minutes (or until the mushrooms are a little browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes). Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the cilantro.
• Arrange your sopes on a platter. Cover with a thin layer of Roasted Tomato-Chile de Arbol Salsa, the huitlacoche or mushrooms, a drizzle of the crema fresca and a sprinkle of queso fresco. Serve the remaining salsa on the side.
• Preheat the boiler.
• Put the tomatoes on a baking sheet and broil until the tomatoes are nice and charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Take the tomatoes out, let them cool just until you can handle them, slip off the skins and cut out the tough cores. Transfer the tomatoes to a big bowl (don't you dare forget the tomato juice that has leaked out and reduced to awesomeness on the baking sheet), and then roughly chop them.
• While the tomatoes are broiling, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and toast the chiles (in batches, if necessary), flipping them over occasionally, until they just begin to smoke, about 5 minutes. Set them aside in a bowl.
• Put the olive oil, garlic and onions in a saucepan, set it over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the toasted chiles, tomatoes and 2 cups water, bring to a simmer and cook for another 12 minutes, so the flavors come together. Let it cool a bit.
• Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender. Add the cilantro, salt and pepper and puree until the mixture is very smooth. Pour the mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. Store the salsa in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to a week, or in the freezer for a month.

SOPISH

Steps:

• **It is important that the French bread is day old (hard), as this helps to prevent it falling apart and becoming mush once the sopa is poured over it).** Cut meat into 3-by-3 inch pieces. Place whole spices - cumin, allspice and cloves - in a cloth bag. (Brand-new, white baby socks can be used as the cloth bag. Just put the spices in and tie the sock in a knot.) Boil meat with soup bones, onion, garlic, spices in cloth bag, wine, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce until meat is tender. Add cabbage wedges to pot and simmer for about 20 minutes. Skim fat from top of liquid. In bowl, place thick sliced day old French bread with mint on top. Over this, pour hot juice from pot. In a bowl, pour sopa over thick sliced bread. (Note: Worcestershire sauce is not used in all festa sopas; unlike this recipe, chicken base is used. These two differences make for more brothy-colored sopas, which is more like the sopas served in the Azores.)

SOPES

Steps:

• Mix the masa and water together into a smooth consistency for about 3 to 5 minutes. If working in large amounts cover bowl with a damp towel to keep from drying out.
• Take a piece of the dough about the side of a cue ball, and roll into a firm ball. In a tortilla press or with a hard flat book or cutting board, line with 2 pieces of plastic. Place masa ball in the middle and apply pressure until ball pushes out to 4 to 5-inch diameter. (if edges of patty are cracked deeply the dough maybe too dry or if the patty does not remove from the plastic easily the dough maybe too moist.)
• Heat a cast iron pan to very hot. Place masa patty on pan without any oil, brown on both sides, approximately 1 minute on each side. Remove and let cool.
• While still warm, remove the center of the dough, and form the edges up, making a hollow tart like shell.
• Heat 1-inch of canola oil to 350 degrees F. Add sope shells to oil and cook on both sides until crispy and golden brown. Hold warm for service.

PORTUGUESE SOPAS

Steps:

• Place pot roast, onion, mint, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, and bay leaves in a large pot. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover the roast. Cook over medium heat until roast is tender, adding more water if needed, about 4 hours.
• Stir cabbage wedges into the pot. Simmer until cabbage is tender, about 30 minutes.

EASY MEXICAN SOPES

Steps:

• Whisk masa harina and salt together; stir enough water into mixture until dough is smooth and holds together. Form dough into 2-inch balls. Flatten each ball to a 1/2-inch thick circle.
• Heat oil to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) in a deep-fryer or large saucepan.
• Fry dough in the hot oil until sopes are just lightly browned, about 30 seconds per side. Remove sopes with tongs and place on a paper towel-lined plate; cool just until sopes can be handled. Pinch the edges of each sope together forming little 'boats'. Return to hot oil and fry until golden and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes.

SOPES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine masa harina and salt; stir in water. Knead until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough into 16 portions; shape into balls and cover with plastic wrap. , Working between two sheets of plastic wrap, press four balls into 3-1/2-in. circles. On an ungreased griddle, cook dough circles over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes or until bottoms are lightly set. Turn and cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat; quickly pinch edge of circles to form a 1/2-in. rim. Return to the griddle; cook 2 minutes longer or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks; cover. Repeat with remaining dough., In a small saucepan, combine chicken and 1/2 cup salsa. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally. In a large skillet, melt shortening. Cook sopes over medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove to paper towels to drain. , To assemble, layer each sope with refried beans, chicken mixture and remaining salsa. Sprinkle with lettuce and queso fresco. Serve immediately.

MEXICAN FIESTA SOUP

Steps:

• In large saucepan combine salsa, black beans, corn, turkey and broth.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
• Garnish each serving with sour cream and cilantro.

SOUPAS - A PORTUGUESE FEAST SOUP T-R-L

Steps:

• Combine everything and add enough water to cover all.
• Let cook slowly all day (at least 8 hours).
• Remove cheesecloth bag and discard.
• To serve, put the sliced meat and sauce(soupas) over sliced bread.
• Sprinkle with chopped mint if desired.