Feijoada - Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Recipe Name: Feijoada - Brazilian Black Bean Stew

Story: Kristy made this for Peter's birthday and it was absolutely delicious. We've had versions of this in the family over the years from their time living in Brazil.

Years you've been making it: Many

Author / Creator: Kimberly Killebrew

Submitted by: Kristy

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb dried black beans (I use Chiapas or Midnight black beans from Rancho Gordo, but you could use almost any one)
• 3 tbls cooking oil
• 1 lb pork shoulder, left whole and shredded at the end of cooking or cut into chunks
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb fresh Italian or other spicy sausage, casing removed and crumbled
• 1/2 lb smoked sausage, such as linguica or kielbasa, sliced into rounds
• 1/2 lb thick sliced bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 4 bay leaves
• water
• 1 tbls beef bouillon base (e.g., Better Than Bouillon)
• 1 - 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 - 2 cans black beans
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• salt to taste
• hot sauce, according to heat preference
• orange, washed and cut into slices, served on the side

Directions: 

1. Soak the beans in a large bowl of water overnight.
2. In a large Dutch oven or heavy duty pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the pork shoulder until generously browned on each side. Remove the pork and set aside. In the same pan, add the bacon and cook until slightly crispy (for the best flavor leave the grease but you can drain some of it if you prefer). Add the onions and cook the onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the crumbled Italian sausage and smoked sausage and cook until the crumbled sausage is no longer pink.
3. Return the pork roast to the pot along with the smoked ham hock. Drain, rinse, and add the black beans to the pot. Add the bay leaves, black pepper, and beef bouillon base. Cover the contents of the pots with water until the meat is just barely covered (about 2 quarts). Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 2 hours, making sure the beans are soft. About 1.5 hours into the cooking time, if using whole pork roast, remove and either shred or cut into chunks, and return to the pot. Do the same with the meat on the smoked ham hock. 
4. Add 1 to 2 cans diced tomatoes.
5. If the feijoada is too liquidy*, uncover the pot and continue to cook for another 20 mins or so to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Add more salt to taste as needed. Add some hot sauce according to heat preference. Discard the bay leaves.
6. Serve with rice and the fresh orange slices.
7. *It always is too liquidy for me, so I puree 1-2 cans of black beans with their liquid and add.

Notes: 

This is always a bit better a day or two after making to allow the flavors to marry and grease to rise to the top. Surprisingly there isn't a ton of grease, but I scoop it off anyway.