Fejoida and Brigadeiros

This week was Jake’s turn to host soup night. He had a Brazilian inspired menu, as you can see below. There are a few dishes that need a little description. They may be commonplace in Brazil but not in Chicago. Fejoida is the national dish of Brazil. It is a stew that consists of beans, beef and pork (however in our case Jake used fake meats). It is also know as a leftover stew. All the food that wasn’t used during the week usually goes into the Fejoida pot. It is also garnished with oranges, which sounds weird, but is awesome. Lastly a Brigadeiros is a chocolate ball shaped candy that tastes kind of like a tootsie roll.

Heart of Palm and Crab Salad with Mango
Serves 6
*adapted from Bobby Flay

Ingredients
2 (14-oz) cans hearts of palm, drained
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3 tbs habanero hot sauce, plus more for drizzling
2 limes, juiced
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs lump crabmeat, picked over
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
2 to 3 cups mesclun, washed and dried

Directions

Heat grill to high. Drizzle hearts of palm with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side until slightly charred and just warmed through. Remove from heat.

Whisk together coconut milk, hot sauce, lime juice, honey, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, cilantro, and red onion in a medium bowl. Add the crabmeat, mango, grilled hearts of palm, and mesclun, and toss until well dressed. Mound onto a serving plate and drizzle with more hot sauce, if desired. Sprinkle with torn cilantro leaves and serve.

Fejoida
Serves 6
*adapted from The Recipe Works

Ingredients
2 cups black beans, soaked in water overnight and drained 

10 cups vegetable broth
1 tbs olive
1 package veggie bacon
1/2 package soyrizo
2 oz. veggie ground beef substitute
2 oz. tofurkey
1 large yellow onion , diced

2 green or red bell peppers, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 medium red potatoes, coarsely chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsps liquid smoke flavoring

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
cooked brown rice

Garnish

Chopped avocado

Sour Cream

Orange wedges

Directions
In a large saucepan, combine the beans and broth. Cook over low heat until the beans are tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Drain and reserve 3 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, fake meat, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes.

Add the beans, reserved cooking liquid, potatoes, thyme, cumin, salt, and pepper and cook, uncovered, over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile cook brown rice.

Stir in liquid smoke flavoring and parsley. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving. Add rice to the bowls on cover with soup. Garnish with avocado, sour cream, and orange wedges.

Brazilian Greens
Serves 8

Ingredients
Collard greens, de-stemmed and cut into strips
Onion chopped
Olive oil
Liquid smoke
Salt and pepper

Directions
In a sauté pan heat olive oil over medium heat, add greens and onion and cook until tender. Add liquid smoke and season with salt and pepper.

Sea Salt Bigadeiros with Avocado Ice Cream
Makes 20
*adapted from food.com

Ingredients

1 (28 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbs butter
6 tbs cocoa
Sea Salt
3 avocados, chopped
Vanilla Ice Cream
mango

Directions:
Over medium-low heat, stir vigorously the three ingredients. Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the pan bottom during stirring (it will be firm enough to stay together and not spread) Pour into a greased dish and let cool to room temperature (or chill a few minutes in the fridge)

While it cools, mix avocados and ice cream in a blender. Pour into a dish and return to the freezer. Remove chilled chocolate mixture, grease your hands with butter and take small amounts of candy and form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Sprinkle with Sea Salt. Serve with ice cream and diced mango.

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