Feijoada

FEIJOADA

(Black beans and pork stew)

The slaves in the colonial Brazil created the "Feijoada".

They started cooking the pork meats that farmland owners discarded such as ear, tails, and feet in a big pot with black beans.

This dish became traditional all over the country. Since then, the dish was incremented with pork sirloin and sausages that transformed the menu into a famous entrée that everybody who visits Brazil has to taste.

The following recipe is an easy-to-do version of "Feijoada" made only with pork tenderloin and sausages.

This recipe is preferred for busy people that don't want to handle the salted pork ears, tails and feet found in the complete "Feijoada".

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb of varied pork sausages (prefer smoked sausages)
• 1 lb of pork tenderloin
• some slices of bacon
• 1 can of black beans (15.5Oz)
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• salt, garlic, chopped onions and bay leaves (bay leaves give a special taste to feijoada)

PREPARE

Feijoada is made with black beans and pork meats.

You can use a can of beans already cooked or learn how to cook dried beans here.

Add black beans to a medium-sized pot with 2 tbs oil, salt, garlic, chopped onions and about 6 bay leaves.

Cook for about 15 minutes in med heat and set aside.

In a separate frying pan, cook cubes of pork tenderloin and slices of bacon with salt and garlic.

Add all the sausages sliced and stir on medium-heat until the water evaporates.

Add the cooked meat to the pan with the black beans and your feijoada is ready!

Cook your feijoada 10 minutes longer to allow the meat juices to soak in the black beans. You can add some pepper sauce to your feijoada at this point.

Hint: to make the feijoada creamy, liquefy 1/2 cup of black beans in the blender and add to the feijoada.

SERVE:

Feijoada is a main dish frequently served with white rice, collard greens and seasoned manioc flour (farofa).

To follow the "Feijoada", we serve orange segments as a dessert.

SERVING SIZE: 6 portions.