Feijoada weekend recipe...




In a couple of weeks time the husband, Matilda and I will be heading off across the Atlantic to the exotic shores of Brazil. To get us in the mood for our trip I'm making the Brazilian national dish Feijoada. It is said to have been introduced to South America by the Portuguese, who kindly gave up the cheaper parts of the pig they weren't prepared to eat, such as the trotters, tails and ears, to the slaves who then added them to beans and seasoned with various peppers. And so the Brazilian Feijoada as we know it was born. It's an extremely popular dish to make for large family gatherings, as it's cheap, delicious and very easy to make.

The main ingredients for a Feijoada are the various cuts of Pork, Smoked Sausages, Beef and I'm adding Chorizo plus the delicious black turtle beans. The final dish is served with rice and Orange segments for dessert to cleanse the palate.


For my Feijoada, I've got a Pork Knuckle, Heston's Smoky Sausages from Waitrose, Streaky Bacon, Stewing Beef and 2 types of Portuguese Chorizo. I soak and cook my own beans, but it's perfectly OK to use tinned ones. Can't really give you exact measurements but to give you a vague idea, I used the following:

1 Pork Knuckle
4 whole chorizos,
2 cans of black beans
500g of stewing beef
4 slices of streaky bacon
6 peeled garlic gloves
4 sausages
5 bay leaves
2 sliced onions
1 small cup of cooked rice

So you cook up the beans with some whole garlic and 3 bay leaves in a pan and a splash of olive oil if you're only heating the beans up, in another pot boil the pork with a couple of bay leaves. I roasted the Sausages and Beef in a tin with some olive oil and garlic for about an hour I dry fried the Chorizos and onions as a little concession to the diet! Timings of cooking vary, so I'll leave it to your capable eye. Once all the ingredients are cooked, simply mix together with a wooden spoon in a big pot, add the boiled rice and pour a little of the water used to cook the pork, to give it a bit of gravy otherwise it can be a bit dry especially if you've dry fried the chorizo. Let it all rest for a few minutes, sprinkle some chopped parsley over the top and your meat fest is ready to devour. Enjoy!



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