Feijoada is a beautiful fusion dish very popular in Brazil, and there are multiple reasons why. This a hearty stew of black beans and meats, braised with onions, garlic and spices until everything is incredibly tender. What's not to love a about a hearty, slow cooked pork and bean stew?
🥣Cooking Time: 8hrs (+30min prepping time)
🍲Serves: 8
Ingredients
1 pound of black beans (soaked overnight)
1 package of thick smoked bacon
1 ½ pounds of pork tenderloin cubed
1 pound of pork short ribs
2 ounces of smoke sausage
1 cup of diced onion
1 tablespoons of minced garlic
½ a bunch of fresh cilantro
2 bay leaves
6 cups of water
6 teaspoons of granulated chicken bouillon such as Knorr
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Start by having the black beans ready to cook. These must be soaked at least 8 hours in water. Sprinkle the ribs and pork tenderloin with some light salt and pepper.
2. In a large pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the bacon grease. In the same pan, cook the sausage until crisp as well, remove from the pan and reserve it along with the bacon. While still using the same pan, sauté the pork tenderloin. The meat does not need to be cooked all the way through, what you want is to brown the pieces on all sides. This takes about 5 minutes or so. Do this for every piece of your tenderloin and ribs.
3. Once all of the meats are ready, you are ready to let your crock-pot take over and do the rest. Into the crock-pot, place your all your meats along with your drained beans, onions, garlic, bay leaves, cilantro, water, and chicken bouillon. Stir all ingredients to combine.
4. Place the lid on your crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours or until your meats and beans are tender. You can serve your Feijoida with rice, and enjoy it with toppings such as pico de gallo or farofa!
Notes
If you do not have a crock-pot, this dish can also be prepared in a normal pot over the stove. Soaking the beans in water overnight helps even more if you cook this over the stove, since the beans will cook faster along with the meat. If you use a normal pot to cook this dish follow the steps the same way, and just cook everything on the stove on a medium-slow fire for 45-50 minutes or until the meat and beans are all cooked and tender.
For this feijoada I used a leaner meat such as pork tenderloin, instead of pork butt. I used it not only to reduce a little of the extra fat, but also because this meat cut was much cheaper. You can use any meat cut of your choosing, and it doesn't need to be entirely pork either. You can definitely use beef too. This dish can be a mix of beef and pork, and be just as delicious. Salted meats are often used as well as parts of the pig, such as feet and ears. This is totally optional!
It is best to prep this dish ahead of time, preferable a day before if possible. Soaking the black beans overnight is a must, especially if you’re planning to throw dinner in the crock-pot before you leave for work in the morning. Another suggestion is to prep all the meats the night before as well by browning, and storing them in the fridge. That way all you have to do is place everything in the crock-pot the following morning and turn it on. And when you get back, you will be welcomed back with the most amazing aroma, and the most hearty, flavorful stew! 😁🍲
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