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Feijoada (Brazilian Black Bean Stew)

Feijoada (Brazilian Black Bean Stew)

Cuisine:Brazilian

Course:Dinner

30m prep 3h cook 3h ready

8 servings This long-simmered meat and bean stew can feature a wide variety of meaty odd bits. Any combination of pork ribs, pork tongue, carne seca (dried beef), or corned beef may be substituted for the meat in this recipe. Just be sure to use a combination of salted and fresh meat to avoid oversalting the stew. Feijoada may also be prepared in a slow cooker. Simply combine all the ingredients and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or until the meat is extremely tender. Stir in the browned onions and garlic just before serving. Farofa, a mixture of toasted cassava flour and fried bacon and onions, is the traditional garnish. You may find this topping in South American grocery stores, but it is not absolutely necessary. If you find coarsely ground cassava flour (not tapioca starch), try making your own.

Ingredients

Servings:
  • 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 pound pig’s feet, split in half, or smoked ham hock
  • 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • (½ pound pig’s tails)
  • ½ pound slab bacon, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
  • ½ red onion, chopped (reserve the other half)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ⅓ cup lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ pound fresh chorizo link sausages or kielbasa, cut into ½-inch slices
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1
    • 4 slices bacon, finely diced
    • 4 tablespoons butter
    • ½ onion, finely diced
    • 3 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 cup cassava flour
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • Pinch of black pepper
    • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
    Sub-recipe steps
    1. Heat in a large skillet over medium heat: 4 slices bacon, finely diced
    2. Cook, stirring, until browned and the bacon’s fat has rendered. Add to the skillet and melt: 4 tablespoons butter
    3. Add and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes: ½ onion, finely diced; 3 garlic cloves, minced
    4. Add and stir constantly over the heat for 3 minutes: 1 cup cassava flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; Pinch of black pepper
    5. Remove from the heat and stir in: 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
    6. Chestnut flour is ground from raw or roasted dried chestnuts. It is an ancient staple of both Europe and North American indigenous tribes. The original polenta was made with chestnut flour, and the Cherokee used chestnut flour to make porridge and bread. Chestnut flour tends to clump and so should be sifted. Store chestnut flour in the freezer. Chestnut flour is very starchy and lightly sweet, and it gives baked goods a cakey texture. For more information on chestnuts, see here.
    7. Coconut flour is high in fiber. Perhaps the most notable thing about coconut flour, other than its mild coconut flavor, is that it is extremely absorbent. If substituting coconut flour for some proportion of the all-purpose flour in a recipe, you will need to increase the liquid in the recipe, and the more coconut flour you use, the more liquid you will have to add to compensate.
    8. Corn flour is milled from a particular type of corn called flour corn, which has a thin seed coat and a soft kernel. Use it in baking for added corn flavor, mixing it with other flours. Do not confuse corn flour with masa harina.
    9. For information on cornmeal, see About Cornmeal, Hominy, and Grits. Note that when using cornmeal in baking recipes, because it is grainier than flour, it will add a slightly gritty, crumbly texture. For recipes written to use cornmeal, see our recipes for corn breads, Four-Grain Flapjacks, Cornmeal Pancakes, and Cornmeal Waffles. If a recipe calls for self-rising cornmeal and you want to make your own, add 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt to each 1 cup cornmeal.
    10. Oat flour is soft and starchy and can be an excellent addition to gluten-free baked goods, as it bakes up lighter than many other gluten-free flours without a trace of grittiness. Oat flour works especially well in cookies, cakes, and quick breads. For more information on oats, see here.
    11. Made from whole cooked potatoes that have been dried and ground, potato flour is used chiefly in soups, gravies, breads, and cakes, in combination with other flours, or alone in sponge cakes. Potato flour is different from potato starch. To avoid lumping in cake batters, blend it with the sugar before mixing. In bread recipes, it yields a moist, slow-staling loaf. If using in breads, only add a small proportion of potato flour—about 10 percent of the total amount of flour. To use as a thickener in sauces and gravies, substitute 1 tablespoon potato flour for 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
    12. A light-yellow flour with a grassy, earthy flavor, quinoa flour is best used with other flours so its flavor doesn’t overpower. For more information about quinoa, see here.
    13. Both nonglutinous (nonwaxy) and glutinous (waxy) rice flours are used extensively across much of Asia. Both of these flours are used in combination with other flours for making gluten-free baked goods. Always buy white rice flour from Asian grocery stores, as some American brands are very gritty and will not yield the best results in baking.
    14. Brown rice flour is grittier than white rice flour but has more flavor and is less gummy. Use it in tandem with white rice flour to get the starchy benefits of the white rice flour and the flavor and heartiness of the brown rice flour. Look for “superfine” brown rice flour.
    15. For more information about rice, see here.
    16. Sorghum flour is gluten-free and ground from the large yellow or white grain of sorghum. Sorghum flour is often used to add flavor and a whole-grain texture in gluten-free baking. It has a subtle flavor somewhat like cornmeal. It is used in combination with other flours in cookies, cakes, and bread, although some bakers report good results when using sorghum flour alone in place of all-purpose flour for pancakes and waffles. For more information about sorghum, see here.
    17. Teff is the smallest grain, and the flour ground from it is very fine, with a deep brown color and malty flavor. Like most of the flours in this section, teff flour is best combined with other flours in baking due to its lack of gluten and distinctive flavor. For more information about teff, see here.
  • Orange slices
  • 1
    • 1 pound collard greens, well washed, tough stems and midribs removed
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • Salt
    Sub-recipe steps
    1. Have ready: 1 pound collard greens, well washed, tough stems and midribs removed
    2. Stack the leaves, roll them into a tight cylinder, and shred as thinly as possible. Heat in a large skillet over medium heat: 1 tablespoon olive oil
    3. Add and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds: 2 garlic cloves, minced
    4. Add the collards and cook very briefly, until tender but still bright green, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with: Salt
  • Cooked white rice

Let's Prepare

Collect

Gather these ingredients - no prep needed yet.

  • 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 pound pig’s feet, split in half, or smoked ham hock
  • 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • (½ pound pig’s tails)
  • ½ pound slab bacon, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
  • ½ red onion, chopped (reserve the other half)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ⅓ cup lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ pound fresh chorizo link sausages or kielbasa, cut into ½-inch slices
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 Farofa, store-bought or homemade
  • Orange slices
  • 1 Sautéed Shredded Collard Greens
  • Cooked white rice

Let's Cook

  1. Step 1.

    Place in a pot or Dutch oven: 1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over; 1 pound pig’s feet, split in half, or smoked ham hock; 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks; (½ pound pig’s tails); ½ pound slab bacon, cut into ½-inch cubes; 2 bay leaves

  2. Step 2.

    Add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium, partially cover, and simmer. Skim any scum off the top of the stew for the first 30 minutes. Continue to simmer until the meat is very tender and the beans are cooked, about 2 hours. If necessary, add hot water to keep the ingredients covered. While the stew cooks, prepare the Brazilian hot sauce. Combine in a blender and blend until smooth: 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped; ½ red onion, chopped (reserve the other half); 2 garlic cloves; ⅓ cup lime juice; ½ teaspoon salt

  3. Step 3.

    Alternatively, for a coarser sauce, hand-mince the jalapeños, onion, and garlic and stir in the lime juice and salt. Let the hot sauce sit while the stew finishes cooking.

  4. Step 4.

    Skim any pooled fat from the top of the stew and reserve. Add to the stew: ½ pound fresh chorizo link sausages or kielbasa, cut into ½-inch slices

  5. Step 5.

    Simmer until the stew is very thick, about 1 hour more. Warm 2 tablespoons of the reserved fat in a medium skillet over medium heat. Thinly slice the reserved onion half from making the hot sauce, and add to the skillet, along with: 1 large onion, thinly sliced; ¼ teaspoon salt

  6. Step 6.

    Cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add: 6 garlic cloves, minced

  7. Step 7.

    Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Stir the onions and garlic into the stew. Remove the ham hock or pig’s feet (and pig’s tails, if using), let cool slightly, and shred the meat from the bone. Stir the meat back into the stew. Serve with the hot sauce and: Farofa, store-bought or homemade; Orange slices; Sautéed Shredded Collard Greens; Cooked white rice

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