Casa de Feijuada

I damn near had a food coma after eating all this:
Feijuada... Brazil's national dish- a stew made of black beans and a combination of many many many different smoked and sun-dried meats-- mainly pork, smoked sausages and beef. Originally created by Africans as a way to use leftover/ undesireable meats such as pigs ear, feet, tail. Don't let the ingredients fool you- this dish has been perfected over hundreds of years. The the stew is slow cooked in a clay pot for hours melding the flavors of the beans and smoked meat perfectly and making the meat fall apart tender.

Starters:

Crusty bread w/ butter & cheese, olives & smoked sausages

Traditionally served with a ton of sides. Our meal included: white rice, collard greens minas gerais style, fried manioc, farfoa, oranges & pork rinds.

Plated for you right at your table:

Also, this is where I had that AMAZING Brazilian Fish Stew I told y'all about and had to re-create at home (check it out in my older posts)
For dessert: pumpkin & coconut compote, banana compote, and milk compote.

And if all that wasnt enough, your meal includes complementary lime and passion fruit cocktails all night (batida).

Brazilian Fish Stew-- BRL Version

While in Rio I had the most amazing Fish Stew ever. I bought some Brazilian ingredients and so that I could recreate it at home. Here's what I came up with:



Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb white fish- such as bass, halibut, or tilapia
4 cloves garlic
1-2 shallots (or 1 onion)
1 green onions/ scallions
1 inch piece ginger
4 Tb cilantro
1/2 lime
4 Tb dende oil
2 Tb Extra virgin olive oil
1 Tb tomato paste
1 cup seafood stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup coconut milk
hot peppers (optional to taste)
salt n' pepa
1-2 tomatoes

Directions:
1) Chop the garlic, ginger, scallions, shallots & cilantro
2) Place the fish in a plastic ziplock bag and build the marinade by adding the olive oil, 1/2 the dende oil and half of the garlic, ginger, scallions, shallots & cilantro. Let the marinade sit for about 2-3 hours
3)Heat the remaining dende oil in a pot and add the rest of shallots, green peppers, ginger, and garlic. Let this cook for a few minutes. Add the fish with remaining marinade and lime juice. Cook on both sides.
4) Add seafood stock, white wine & salt and pepper to taste and let simmer. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved
5) Add coconut milk, tomatoes, hearts of palm & peppers
6) Serve w/ fresh cilantro and steamed rice

**A few notes**
- I changed the written recipe from the video so that everything is cooked in the same pot--- one less dish to wash!
- Although I used a filet for the video, I would reccomend using a fish steak as it will hold better in the stew
- Feel free to add other items such as hearts of palm (very Brazilian & you can get them canned of jarred at the market) or shrimp (MMMmmmm)
- The stew in the video is a little lighter in color than you might experience. I reccomend using less coconut milk than I did in the video. I adjusted the written recipe to reflect the correct amount.
- Dende oil is very strong and high in fat so try not to go overboard with it