Tuesday night's dinner Feijoada, with recipe

[Guest guest]

We use a lot of dried beans. But I realize not everyone has the time to do that,

so have included an alternate recipe using canned black beans. I'll also make

French bread to go with this. Leftover Feijoada is great on top of a bed of

salad greens and veg. Enjoy. Jeanne in Georgia

 

Feijoada (Tangy Black Beans) from Diet For A Small Planet

 

Oil for sautéing

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, chopped

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 teaspoon cilantro

1 cup black beans (dry, yes, you can use canned, drain and don’t use stock and

bay leaf)

3 cups vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon red wine or 1 teaspoon red wine or other vinegar

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 orange, washed, cut in half, NOT peeled (or about a quarter cup of orange

juice)

½ teaspoon salt

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced

 

Heat oil in large heavy pot and sauté onion, garlic, green onions, sweet red

pepper tomato and cilantro until onion is transparent. Add beans, stock, bay

leaf, pepper, and red wine or vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer

for 2 minutes. Take off stove and let sit, covered, for 1 hour.

 

Add remaining ingredients and simmer with lid ajar, for 2 to 3 hours, or until

beans are tender. Remove orange and bay leaf from beans and discard. Remove a

couple ladles of beans and mash them, and return to the pot to thicken the

mixture.

 

Note: pressure cooker or crock pot works fine. To substitute canned black

beans, use two cans black beans, drained, add sautéed vegetables and one can of

vegetable stock, more if needed. Simmer all together with the sweet potato and

carrot till the sweet potato and carrot are cooked and tender.

 

 

French Bread

1/2 cup warm water

3 tablespoons (or two packages) dry yeast

Pinch sugar

1 tablespoon salt

2 cups warm water

approximately 7 cups high gluten bread flour

 

 

Proof yeast in the 1/2 cup warm (NOT HOT) water and pinch of sugar. Add the 2

cups water, salt and about 2 cups of flour, stir well to blend. Add rest of

flour, turning out onto board or counter to knead. Knead till it turns to satin

under your hands. It may require more flour during kneading. (the amount of

moisture in your flour depends on how it is stored, the weather outside and

humidity.) Add just enough to keep from being sticky. Too much flour and your

loaves will be hard as bricks. Place into large, lightly oiled bowl, cover and

let rise till doubled (about 1 to 1 and one half hours). Punch down and recover

bowl, putting it back in warm area (believe it or not, my husband's truck is the

perfect bread rising area till it gets cold in January.) Let it rise again,

punch down, recover and let rise again (second rise). Punch down, let it rest 5

minutes, cut dough into two pieces. Shape into 2 long loaves or 4 smaller

baguettes. At this stage, the dough is going to be

elastic but often one must show it who's the cook and slap it on the counter a

couple of times before it will let it shape into loaves. (there I go again,

anthropomorphizing things.) Very lightly dust baking sheet or peel with

cornmeal. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 F. YES, this time you will preheat the oven. Yes. Yes. Yes.

If you do not have a clean chemial free plant mister filled with water, put a

small ovenproof bowl of water on the bottom rack of the oven. If you do have a

mister, spritz the loaves of bread several times in the first half of cooking

will give you a lovely crunchy outer crust while the inside is chewy and good.

Bake loaves about 20 minutes, removing the bowl of water at 10 minutes. When

gently tapped, the bottom crust should give a somewhat hollow sound. (Hard to

describe if you are not a baker). The crust will be golden and the smell

heavenly.

 

As French bread has no fat or honey to keep it fresh longer, it stales

quickly. When I lived at home, I made it daily. When the kids came along, I made

other breads, also daily. Now that it is just the husband person, 4 big dogs and

over two dozen cats, I bake bread only four times a week, less if I cannot walk.

Then he has to make do with store bought stuff (bleah), or I make quick

tortillas.

 

 

 

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