Marcia Zoldaz’s feijoada for the Brazilian dinner

Marcia says: “In the recipe for the feijoada, the meats will presented either separate from the beans or with a little bit of the beans in order to keep them moist and the beans will be in a large soup tureen. The green collards could be half and half with the oranges and the cassava flour will be in smaller bowls. The salt is added little by little as most of the meats are salted.”.

Feijoada tradicional

Serves 15

For the beans
2 kg black beans
750 g lean jerky beef
300 g salted fatback (pork)
2 salted pig tails, 700g
2 salted pig ears, 300 g
1 kg beef muscle
1 kg beef short loin
300 g bacon (in a single piece)
300 g thick pork sausage
500 g pepperoni sausage
300 g smoked pork loin
300 g smoked pork ribs

For the seasoning
4 soup-spoonfuls vegetable oil (not olive oil)
3 large onions, chopped in small pieces
6 large garlic cloves, crushed
4 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 sweet oranges

The day before preparations begin:

1. Soak the black beans for one night covered with cold water.

2. Wash the jerky, the tails, the ears, the salted fatback. Let them soak overnight covered with cold water.

Next day:

1. Drain the beans and cook them in a large cauldron covered with fresh water. The beans will cook untill soft, but stil  holding their shape. Add hot water if needed to keep them always covered. At this point the meats will begin to be added. The beans are only salted at the end after they are soft – otherwise they will not be soft enough for the feijoada.

2. While the beans are cooking: wash the salted meats again and transfer them and the beef short loin, the beef muscle and the bacon to a large pan, cook them covered with water until very soft, this will dissolve the fat from the meats. Then add the meats to the beans. Let the bean-mixture simmer.

3. Puncture the sausages and add them to the beans. Add the smoked pork loin and the smoked ribs to the beans. Let them cook, add more hot water if needed.

4. Heat the oil in a frying pan or a casserole on a medium flame, stir-fry the onion and the garlic. Add 2 or 3 ladles of beans – more beans than water – mix them with the stir-fry while crushing the beans against the bottom of the pan – a mixer can be used but do not make a purée  because this will change the colour of the feijoada into a gray-ish black.  Season it with salt and black pepper – take care to taste the beans in the pan first because the meats have quite a large amount of salt.

5. Tip the stir-fry into the beans and cook for more 30 minutes on a very small flame – at this point add the oranges to soak the extra fat in the feijoada.

6. Present the feijoada with:
White rice (3 to 4 soup spoons per serving)
Green collards (thinly sliced fast braised in oil and crushed garlic – a little to taste – seasoned with a pinch of salt).
Manioc/cassava flour (3-4 soup-spoons per serving – 1 spoon is 10g)
1 / 2 peeled and quartered orange per serving.
Tabasco or any other chilli sauce on table