Brazilian Feijoada – Happy (and hopefully very lucky) New Year!!

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We’ve posted about this before, but there’s a great,southern tradition of eating beans and greens on New Year’s Day to ensure goodfortune in the coming year. 

Apparently, by eating “poor” the first day of theyear, you align certain cosmic forces in your favor, which results inprosperity and good luck the rest of the year. Sounds crazy, right? I know, you’re way too sophisticated tobelieve in such lame supernatural shenanigans. Hey wait a minute…don’t youwatch all those ghost hunter shows on cable TV? Busted! Hey, did you hear thatnoise?

Anyway, whether you believe in this kind of culinary clairvoyanceor not, this Brazilian feijoada is one of the world’s great stews. Thetraditional good luck bean is the black-eyed pea, but here we’re celebratingthe delicious, and very nutritious, black bean.

I tried to be clear in the video that this is just myversion, and not some attempt at true feijoada authenticity, whatever that is.As long as you have black beans, and LOTS of smoked, salted, dried, and/orcured meats, you are well on your way to some kind of feijoada-likeawesomeness.

In case you’re wondering, all I did for the greens was boilsome kale in salted water until tender, and then sauté briefly in olive oil andgarlic. It pairs perfectly with the white rice and rich stew, and while I can’tguarantee a year’s worth of wealth and good luck, I can promise you a deliciousbowl of food. Happy New Year to all of you, and as always, enjoy!



Ingredients for 6 portions:
1 pounds dry black beans, soaked overnight
2 quarts water, plus more as needed (add more whenever stewlooks too dry)
1 bay leaf
2 smoked pork chops
12 oz linguica
8 oz Italian sausage
4 oz smoked bacon
3 oz dried beef
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste
For the crumbs:
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Basic steps:
- Soak beans overnight, add to pot with bay leaf, beefjerky, and any bones
- Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until beans are cooked,but very firm
- Add onion mixture and meats, and simmer for another hour,or until beans are very soft
- Add a splash of water at any point during the cooking ifstew looks too dry
- Test and add salt near the end, depending on saltiness ofmeatPin It Now!