Chopped cilantro and onions — part of the ingredients to make sofrito.

I’m not so crazy about turkey.  The only part of the turkey I like LOVE is the wings.  Yeah, I love turkey wings and that’s it.  For a long time, I’d just sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil on the wings before putting them in the oven.  That was it for me.  Then family friend, Helin  mentioned how she usually prepares her turkey.  Intrigued, I decided to try her method on my wings.  It sounded so easy and the added enticement was that I could use the same recipe when preparing chicken, too. 

First she made her version (Honduran) of sofrito.  For those new to sofrito, it’s basically a flavorful sauce, freshly made and added to meats, poultry (in this case turkey), stews and sauces.  It’s used in different types of cuisines, such as Latin, Spanish, Mediterranean and more.  Ever since I made my first sofrito a few years ago, I’ve learned that there are different types of sofrito.  

Helin’s sofrito was simple and consisted of 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 bunch of cilantro, 1/2 bunch of culantro, 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, water and apple cider vinegar, which was then mixed in the blender.

Sofrito prepared in the blender

Next, she carefully cleaned and washed the turkey, making sure to remove stray feathers.  I confess that I was never that thorough when preparing any type of poultry.  Then Helin rinsed the wings with fresh lemon juice and water.  I’d never seen it done that way before but she said that’s what she does to help get rid of the bacteria.  Another confession:  I normally just wash with cold water and call it a day.   Well, I’ve learned something new now.

Next we seasoned the turkey with Adobo, Sazón with coriander and annatto and covered the wings with the freshly-made sofrito (The wings could also be marinated a few hours in the sofrito.).  Helin said that when she prepares a whole turkey, she pokes holes into it so the the sofrito seeps into the turkey and flavors it more.

Turkey wings covered with sofrito before going into the oven.

We covered the wings with foil and place them in the oven.  After 40 minutes, we removed the foil and left the wings in the oven for another 15-20 minutes.  Uncovered, we spooned the juices/gravy over the wings.

When ready, the turkey came out full of flavor and very tasty.

A few days later, I tried the same method with chicken pieces.  Again, I wasn’t disappointed.  Delicious.

Paz (very happy)

Three remaining pieces of turkey wings after everyone served themselves.

Family friend, Helin, made some chicken soup for us.  Originally from Honduras, she made her chicken soup the way she would make it in her country.  We loved her soup, which contained chicken (of course) squash, yams (yucca), green bananas, corn, cabbage, carrots, green bell pepper, onions, cilantro, and culantro. 

The seasonings included a Maggi cube, coriander and annatto Goya Sazón, and Adobe Seasoning.   The soup was left to simmer for about 45 minutes.

Helin said that sometimes she adds angel hair pasta in the soup but this time, she left it out.  The soup is served with a side dish of rice for those who want even more substance with their soup.  We skipped the rice, too.  Everyone enjoyed the soup and it hit the spot.  Just right for a cold day January day.

By the way, Helin said you can substitute the chicken with beef.  Thanks, Helin!  This was really good and tasty.

Paz