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A Brazilian Feast Meal Plan

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This Brazilian feast is a fun and delicious meal plan that makes a really fun dinner.

plate of food with feijoada and farofa, rice, and pico de gallo

I want you all to know that this was the challenge that almost caused me to get divorced. See, when Joel and I first started dating, he made it absolutely, without a doubt, known that he detests ham and bean soup. Detests it.

And when we got married, he made it perfectly clear that if I ever ever make ham and bean soup, it would be cause for an immediate divorce. Apparently he has very strong feelings about ham and bean soup. So when I set out the ingredients for this brazilian stew on the counter, we might have had a few issues. It look a lot of convincing to make it clear that this was not in fact, ham and bean soup. No, no, this was Brazilian Stew with Black Beans, Bacon, Pork Ribs and Ham. Toooootally different. Right…?

Feijoada and Farofa and rice on plate

I may have suffered through dinner with quite a few looks, eye rolling, pretend dying, and exasperated sighing, but I am happy to report that he ate it, and we are not getting divorced. But I have been thoroughly, thoroughly reminded of his hated of ham and bean soup. Haha. This meal was a lot of fun to put together, even with commentary from the peanut gallery. I loved how all the different components worked together perfectly! And it was delicious!

** Joel wants me to add a statement here, just to let you know that he would never truly divorce me for cooking soup. 🙂

Rachel Dana was our October 2012 Daring Cooks’ Challenge hostess! Rachel brought Brazil into our lives by challenging us to make Feijoada and Farofa along with some other yummy side dishes traditionally served with Feijoada, which is a delicious black bean and pork stew.

Love serving traditional meals? Try How to Host an Easy 5 Course French Meal for your friends and family!

How to make a Brazilian Feast

Yields 6-8 servings

a close of up of garlic sauce

Onion-Garlic Base

This flavorful base is an important ingredient for all the following recipes, so you need to start by making this first.

  • 2 medium white onions
  • 4 large cloves of garlic
  • 1 TBSP salt
  1. Roughly chop the onions and garlic.
  2. Place everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Note: You can make this and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Feijoada in bowl

Feijoada

These black bean stew is so flavorful and delicious, you will want to make it again and again!

  • 2 cups dried black beans
  • 12 ounces bacon
  • 2 pounds mixed meats (typically an array of pork – sausages, ribs, ham, etc) cut into 1″ cubes or 1/2″ slices
  • 4 bay leaves (affiliate link)
  • 3 TBSP onion-garlic base (recipe below)
  • 1/4 cup bacon grease or veggie oil
  1. Wash the beans thoroughly and place in a 5 quart pot and fill with water, so the water is twice as high as the beans.
  2. Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute.
  3. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour.
  4. Uncover, and add another 4-8 cups of water, until the beans are completely covered again.
  5. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, until the beans have softened but are still firm.
  6. Place the oil/grease in a large frying pan.
  7. Fry all the meat in the hot grease until well browned and cooked through (cook each type of meat separately, but you can use the same pan/grease).
  8. Drain the meat on paper towels to remove excess grease.
  9. To the beans add 3 TBSP of onion-garlic base, 4 bay leaves, and the meat (reserving half of the bacon for later!!!!).
  10. Add enough water to make sure everything is covered.
  11. Continue simmering until the beans are done (about another 2 hours).
close up of pico de gallo

Vinagrete

This flavorful veggie mix adds freshness and crunch to your feast.

  • 1 large bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 TBSP water
  • 2-4 TBSP chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Chop all the veggies and parsley.
  2. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
  3. Press down on the veggies to release some liquid, and ensure everything is immersed.
  4. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
close up of bowl of white rice with wooden spoon

Brazilian Rice

This rice is made with onion and garlic and is so flavorful.

  • 1.5 cups long grain white rice
  • 4.5 TBSP oil
  • 3 TBSP onion-garlic base
  • boiling water
  1. Wash your rice in a sieve and let it dry.
  2. Heat the oil in a pan.
  3. Cook the onion-garlic paste for 1 minute, until it starts to soften.
  4. Add the dried rice and stir fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pot and burn.
  5. Add enough boiling water so the water comes 2 fingers over the rice.
  6. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
  7. Turn off the heat.
  8. Fluff with a fork, cover, and let rest for another 10 minutes.
homemade hot sauce in bowl

Brazilian Hot Sauce

This is the magic sauce that ties it all together!

  • 1 spoonful of your favorite hot sauce
  • a few spoonfuls of the liquid from the completed feijoada
  • 1 spoonful of the vinaigrette
  1. Mix together in a bowl!
  2. That’s it!
bowl of farofa with wooden spoon

Farofa

A fun treat you might not have had before, Far-off is a classic dish that is fo fun to eat.

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 12 ounces fresh bacon, fried (set aside from the feijoada)
  • 1 cup fine ground cornmeal or dry breadcrumbs
  1. Melt half of the butter over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, until they start to soften.
  3. Crack the eggs into the pan and lightly break the yolks and spread around (don’t break it up too much).
  4. When the egg is almost fully cooked, break them up into med-large pieces.
  5. The onions will brown quite a bit under the eggs, but its ok!
  6. Add the cooked bacon and stir.
  7. Add the rest of the butter and stir to melt.
  8. Lower the heat to medium, toss in the cornmeal and stir well.
  9. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  10. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and keep stirring, until the cornmeal has clumped together nicely and become golden, about 3-5 minutes.
  11. Be careful not to let it burn! Keep tasting it until it tastes toasty.
sliced collard greens in bowl

Brazilian Collard Greens

  • 4 collard greens
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 TBSP onion-garlic base
  1. Wash the greens, cut out the stem, and cut in half.
  2. Stack all of the leaves on top of each other and roll them up tightly into a log.
  3. Holding the tube tightly, slice off thin slices of the greens.
  4. When you are almost ready to eat, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
  5. Add 1 TBSP of the onion-garlic base and let it soften for a minute.
  6. Add all the collards at once, and stir to coat with oil.
  7. You can add a pinch of salt and pepper if you want.
  8. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, so they just start to soften.
  9. Remove and serve!

How to serve the Brazilian Feast

To serve this fun meal, place all the serving dishes on a table. Let everyone serve themselves some of everything, and enjoy!

20 Comments

  1. *phew* glad that this meal didn't invoke the ham and bean soup clause!! 🙂 Your feast looks amazing – really, really great job. And I can't thank you enough for your help and encouragement during this challenge – I really don't think I could have done it without you!! 🙂

  2. What a fun meal! I love trying different foods and recipes like this. It all looks delicious!

  3. Haha, I'm very glad to hear you won't be divorcing! Who knew beans and ham could be so controversial?? Your Feijoada looks utterly delicious. The beans in particular look so hearty and rich & the garlicky rice, mmmm!

    1. Good! I love ham and bean soup, too, but obviously never get any! Let me know when you have it next and I'll drop by for a bowl! 🙂 Hehe

  4. So glad you convinced Joel to try it out and not divorce you 🙂 Your meal looks delicious! Way to go on this challenge.

  5. Your feijoada looks delicious! Great job on this month's challenge!

  6. Your feijoada looks delicious! Great job on this month's challenge!

  7. I'm so glad you liked Brazilian Feijoada, and mainly you didn't get a divorce (I'm relieved!) 😀
    Your feijoada looks perfect! Great job on the challenge!

  8. This looks so yummy, especially that onion and garlic base. I bet that would taste good with anything.

  9. bewitchingkitchen.com says:

    Great job, everything looks amazing, you made me homesick

    Now, I know it's hard to find, but if you want to try a "farofa" that is even more traditional than with cornmeal, try to find manioc flour (farinha de mandioca). THere are two kinds toasted and regular, you can use either one, depending on the Brazilian person you talk to, you will be advised to use one or the other.

    it is pure heaven….

    Glad you did not have to get a divorce because of food from my home country… 😉

    1. Haha, me too, Sally! 🙂 I will have to be on the look out for manioc flour, it sounds awesome! 🙂

  10. Congratulations for persevering in spite of the marital challenge to your Brazilian challenge. Turned out great on both counts.

  11. HAHA ham and bean as the reason for divorce, I could see a judge looking very sternly over the bench at that one! Anyway I am so glad you were able to get through it, and that he ate it.. My hubs too tends to shy away from bean and meat anything. But in the long run mine loved it, I hope deep down your hubs enjoyed it too!

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