Dinnertime

Cooking Feijoada for dinner. Another one of those cheap foods that has become elevated to a delicacy (like BBQ). It was what the Brazilian plantation owners fed their slaves - rice and black beans plus whatever animal offal was available. Cheap and nutritious.

Throw in some better cuts of meat and some bacon and some spices and it is sublime for a cold winter night. It is usually served with a side of collard or beet greens but I am sauteing a large head of bok choy and will toss that with toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce. The rice is put into the center of the bowl, the feijoada ladled onto one side and the greens on the other side.

I am using a pressure cooker so I am going from dried beans to finished product in about 30 minutes of cooking. There is another 20 minutes of prep - chopping stuff, sauteing bacon and ham in the cooker, pulling them out and sauteing onions and garlic in the bacon fat, dump in the meat and beans and about 6 cups of water. Cook for 20 minutes - it takes about five minutes to come up to pressure and another couple minutes to vent after cooking.