Brazilian Bean Casserole
Feijao Recipe for This Versatile South American Dish
What is feijao? How do you make it? What's it taste like? Here are all the answers regarding this Brazilian staple casserole.
Feijao, pronounced fay-szong, is a Brazilian staple, and appears on every restaurant table throughout Brazil. Brazilians simply can't get enough of the stuff. Why? Well it tastes good, and provides them with boundless energy.
Feeling listless, tired, and sapped of energy? Eat some beans!
Beans are high in protein and iron, and provide lasting energy throughout the day, which makes them a fantastic alternative to meat as an energy source.
They're also very easy to cook, an just as tasty as a french cassoulet. Here's how:
Simple Feijao Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 500 grams of feijoa (black or red beans)
- Chicken, beef or vegetable stock
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Sprig of thyme
- Olive oil
- Parsley and spring onions to garnish
Method
- Soak the beans overnight in fresh water
- Drain, and wash with your hands, searching for impediments.
- Select a casserole dish, clay cooking vessel of some sort, or a pressure cooker
- Lightly fry onions and garlic in olive oil.
- Add beans and mix, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes to combine flavours
- Add hot stock, about twice the bean mix
- Add bay leaf, sprig of thyme, and cover
- Cooking time is 2 or 3 hours, with the oven set at 150 Degrees C, or 45 minutes using the pressure cooker
Serve on a hot plate, with white rice, garnished with parsley, and spring onions, a meat of choice, and forofa. It really does taste fantastic, and will have you going back for more.
Feijoa is versatile. In fact, any meat can be added to this dish to form a meat casserole.
- Add ham hocks for a black bean and ham stew
- Add spicy sausages, like chorizo
- Add your favourite beef
- Add pork of any sort and it will taste great.
- Add all of the above and you've made a feijoada, well just about.
- Change from black beans, to white beans, add tomatoes, cook for a few hours then add the chicken
- Use white beans and with a thick-fleshed fish, like grouper or marlin, which you would add 30 minutes or so from the end of the cooking period.
- With extra fresh tomatoes, and herbs, it tastes extra good as well.
Or try cooking the dish and a few days later make a salad with it. Simply add olive oil, some fresh herbs, chopped tomatoes, eggs and olives.
There are no rules to cooking feijao. So use your imagination. The next time you go shopping buy some beans, and then simply add whatever takes your fancy. Your family deserves it.
Bom apetite!
