Another recipe to bring back fond memories of my recent trip to South America (see also http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=850467 and http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=856652). This one is a hearty stew that will see you through those cold winter days. I looked up recipes on the net, but I tend to just use them as a guide anyway, so here's my version. Fricken awesome stuff! Feijoada 500gm black turtle beans 1kg corned beef 1 smoked ham hock 4 chorizo 1 brown onion 8 cloves garlic 4 bay leaves 1 cup beef stock water cover the beans with water in one bowl, and in another cover the corned beef with water, and stick them in the fridge overnight. change the beef water a couple of times in the process. Click to view full size! the next day, drain the beef and cube into 1-inch size pieces. finely dice the onion, and slice the garlic and chorizo. fry this in olive oil with a little black pepper, and use a big pot. you only want to fry it to the point where the onion starts to get a bit of colour on it. throw in the beans (including the soaking water), the beef and the ham hock. add the cup of stock, and top up with cold water until everything is just covered. cover the pot (lid or double alfoil) and put into a 160 degree oven for four hours. Click to view full size! at about the three hour mark take the hock out and remove the skin and fat, cut up the meat and return the meat and the bone into the pot. after four hours, remove from the oven. take about half a cup of beans and half a cup of liquid out of the pot, and blend it with a stick mixer. add this back in and stir through. remove the bay leaves at this point. Click to view full size! you'll probably have a bit of liquid in the pot, so mix 2 tsp of cornflour with cold water in a cup and then quickly stir this through. Put the pot on the stove and heat through for about 5 minutes to thicken it up a bit. then stir through a tablespoon of butter. This can be served straight away at this point. Alternatively, put it into containers and put in the fridge overnight. Reheat the next day and the flavours will have soaked through that much more. Like a good curry, this dish gets better over the first couple of days. Click to view full size! Before you dish it up, take some of the beany soup liquid from the pot and pour into a small glass. This gets the taste buds ready for the main event. Click to view full size! Traditionally, this is served with fried manioc (kind of like potato), manioc flour, pork crackle, collared greens, rice, chillies in oil and sliced orange. It is also made with tongue (which tastes great, but I couldn't be bothered with it this time). I decided to go with rice, buttery mashed potato and sliced oranges, and it was fantastic! The colour from this dish is amazing, a deep purple-black stew, and the house smells divine! We'll be eating this all week, but it is bloody addictive. It's quite a heavy dish, so you will be very full. Even the Brazillians only have it once a week (generally on Saturdays), although there are some places that serve it every day. This ended up tasting pretty well spot on to the feijoada that I had at Casa da Feijoada in Ipanema, Rio. Very pleased with it, give it a go if you want to taste some great Brazillian food
Looks damn good dude! For those with a pressure cooker, this recipe can be done a bit quicker. Just add everything except the garlic and onions in there for about 1.5-2hours on a medium heat. Then fry the garlic and onions and add them at the end. hmmm hungry...
My wife makes this dish - She lived in Brazil for a few months years ago.. It is definately one of my favourites...
I'll be coming for this recipe this weekend. Sounds like the perfect thing now its starting to cool down.
If you're having trouble finding the beans, I got mine at Goodies & Grains in the Central Markets. They may be in supermarkets (doubt it) or perhaps other specialty stores (Chile Mojo maybe?)
i lived in Brazil for a year in the 90's (exchange student) and i loved Feijoada and that potatoe thingy, especially with a few drops of super chilli oil* to spice it up a little, yummo! i'd always assumed that the black beans would just be the same ones you can get at health food shops, but i could be wrong. *its just infused chilli oil. i only called it "super chilli oil" because i wasnt used to eating a lot of spicy stuff before going to Brazil, 4 drops (off the prongs of a fork) was enough to flavor an entire plate of food, & i smuggled some back into the country and have made a few batches for myself over the years, i guess just like tobasco sauce but home made, but its only chillis & oil.
Thought I'd bump this up for the cold weather season - I just made a batch over the weekend and it was better than ever! I added some finely diced capsicum, carrot and celery (about a cup of each) and used a pressure cooker on the stove instead of going for the oven. I set the pressure setting to high but used the lowest flame possible to keep it a slow cook under pressure for 4 hours. Was the most amazing one yet! The flavours are so intense, and I feel I could have just eaten my way through the entire pot. The meat just fell apart and was so tender and juicy - will be freezing a bunch as it should be good to keep for a month or so. Freakin love feijoada!
Feijoada is sensational, you have to have the cassava (manioc) flour! I'll definitely give this recipe a whirl sometime.
Thank you!! I once had this and couldn't get enough of it and that was.. 20 years ago.. now I can make it - in fact I will tomorrow night!
Glad to see my recipe is still helping - it's seriously addictive and one of my favourite all-time foods If you've got a pressure cooker it turns out even better, but as long as you've got a big-ass pot you're good to go
You mix it into the Feijoada and eat it. It's just a substitute for rice or similar, a lot of people in Australia don't really like it.
Is it sort of like polenta or something? Does it have a flavour, or does it more or less take up the flavour of the stew?
I don't think it has much flavour, but I enjoy eating it. it is similar to polenta, just a ground up root and it mostly takes up the flavour of the feijoada when you eat them together.
