One of husband’s favorite restaurants in town is the
Brazilian grill. He likes it so much that we went there to eat right after we
got engaged. I love going out to eat at Brazilian grills. I love how interactive
the service is! I giggle when I see husband ogle stacks and stacks of meat as
they glide past him on long metal poles held by waiters with “TEEK” accents. I
also like that I can get my hands on South American sodas. It’s the little
things. Our local Brazilian restaurant has an incredible feijoada that is part
of their buffet. I could easily eat only the feijoada each time we go there.
The sauce is thick, the meat is tender and there is just the right amount of
beans to make my heart sing.
I was pretty excited when I found this recipe. I knew
that it wouldn’t be the same as the one at the Brazilian grill but I had a
feeling it was going to delicious. I decided to make half of the recipe (the
full recipe is listed below). I saw the amount of meat that I was going to have
to purchase and I hesitated for a few moments before adding this meal to the
menu. Then I thought about how happy husband would be to see this much pork entering
our kitchen and I knew it must be made.
I still don’t trust myself with dried beans so I used a
can of black beans. Other than that I kept everything the same. I was shocked
at how expensive applewood-smoked bacon is compared to my trusty turkey bacon.
But I completely understand that the bacon fat is important to this recipe so I
gave in and bought it.
Husband
was very happy with this recipe. He ate his entire bowl and half of mine. We
tried squeezing the orange wedges over the dish, but it really didn’t do it for
us. I did serve this over rice and that soaked up the little bit of sauce nicely.
The meat falls off the bones and shreds just enough to get little bits of short
ribs in eat bite.
I
imagine that traditional feijoada is simmered for hours over on a stove or
cooked in a pressure cooker. Since I just don’t have the time for that these
days I really liked that I could cook this in the slow cooker. The house
smelled amazing when I came home from work. I would happily cook this for a
group of friends and family.
Enjoy!
1 lb. boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into ½ in. cubes
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs. bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed
15 oz. black beans, drained
3 cups onion, chopped
1 ¼ cups chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, minced
9 oz. smoked ham hock
1 T. white vinegar
8 orange wedges
Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until
crisp. Remove bacon from pan and crumble.
Sprinkle pork with 1/8 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon
pepper. Increase heat to medium-high. Add pork to drippings in skillet and sauté
for eight minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Transfer pork to a slow
cooker.
Sprinkle ribs evenly with 1/8 teaspoon salt and remaining
pepper. Add ribs to skillet and cook for three minutes on each side or until
browned. Place ribs in slow cooker.
Add beans, remaining salt, onion, chicken broth, garlic
and ham hock to slow cooker, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on low for
eight hours or until the meat is tender.
Remove ribs from slow cooker and let stand for 15
minutes. Remove meat from bones then shred meat with two forks. Discard bones.
Discard ham hock. Return beef to slow cooker. Stir in vinegar and crumbled
bacon. Serve with orange wedges.
Adapted from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brazilian-feijoada-50400000110438/
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