Feijoada

Pronounced: fesh-wada

November 2008 - If you read my travelogues you'll know that I first encountered feijoada at a small Spanish restaurant in the Bastille area of Paris. We ordered it hoping it was fajitas - we were wrong. But what a great discovery. This hearty, meaty black bean stew is a great supper.

The Brazilian government says: "feijoada", a dish of black beans and pork, traditionally served with rice, kale and manioc flour, and accompanied by a "caipirinha" - a traditional cocktail made of sugar cane liquor, lime and sugar.

The best recipe I found was on Tom Van Vleck's website (which has other fun stuff - check out his home page too).

Over the years I've made this many times and my guests have always enjoyed it.

2018 - I served this at Halloween this year to rave reviews. I've updated the recipe to match how I made it this time.

More super recipes!

A. ham 0.5 pounds cut into half inch cubes
vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
yellow onion 1 large coarsely chopped
garlic 3 large cloves minced or pressed

In a 6 quart pot - or larger - add the oil and heat on medium high until shimmering. Add the cubed ham.

When the ham begins to brown, add the onion and cook until it begins to brown.

Then and the garlic and cook for one minute.

C. bay leaves 2 leaves  
cumin, ground 1 teaspoon  
parsley, fresh 2 teaspoons chopped
ham hock, smoked 2 hock ask your butcher to cut each into four pieces
Canadian bacon, sliced 0.5 pounds chopped into 1 inch squares
black beans, unsalted 5 15 ounce cans

Add all ingredients. Add water until the ham hocks are just covered. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer for 2 hours, uncovered.

D. spicy sausages 3 links  
sweet sausages 3 links Without anise seeds

After the pot has been simmering for 90 minutes, begin this step.

Brown the sausages in a skillet. Cut the sausages into 0.75-inch sized pieces and return them to the pan to brown on the ends. Take your time and get them really brown.

E. Vinegar, white 3 tablespoons  
ham, smoked 0.5 pound Cut into 1-inch chunks.

At the two hour mark take out the ham hocks and let them cool for a few minutes. Using a fork and knife, remove and discard the skin. Break up the meat into big chunks and return to the pot. Discard the bones.

Dip out one cup of the beans and smash them up with a fork. Return them to the pot.

Add sausages and ham.

Add the Vinegar.

Simmer for one more hour. During this time you will need to stir the pot every 10 minutes to keep the stew from burning on the bottom. Add water as needed.

Keep simmering until the beans are done. You can cook this longer than specified without a problem. Add water whenever needed.

F. oranges 3 cut in eighths

Serve it as a bowl of bean stew or put a ladle full in the middle of some brown rice. Serve with orange wedges.

You can also freeze the stew for several months. Just defrost and heat in a microwave or crock pot.

Tom Van Vleck says: I used to cook a single recipe in a 3.5 quart pot and it barely fit. Now I use a big stainless restaurant pot and make a double or triple recipe. This stuff freezes beautifully and is even better after reheating. (When I was a bachelor I used to keep a block of it in the freezer, and just chip off a hunk and eat it with minute rice.)