Brazilian Feijoada with Farofa

The Bloke has been working nights recently and I wasn't expecting him home at all last night, but work finished early and he phoned to say he would be home at 9pm. I hadn't planned to cook anything for myself - but now I would! The only meat I had defrosted was some stewing beef so I figured I would make a casserole. I then looked in the food cupboard and a tin of black beans took me where I knew I had to go. Brazil.

After a little research I decided on Brazils National Dish of Feijoada which I have actually heard of but never tasted before. I know you are meant to use dried black beans but I had the tinned black beans, so in this case decided to use them. I had all the other ingredients to make it, but then noticed that they often make a topping. Now you can make this dish without the topping but I wanted to be as authentic as I could so I ran to the local international food store (I am so lucky to have one close by) to buy some cassava flour to be able to make the topping - Farofa. Not the easiest product to find - I was lucky, but you can substitute with breadcrumbs. So here we have it. Brazilian Feijoada with Farofa with rice, cabbage and habanero sauce. Delicious!

For the Feijoada:

400g casserole steak
100g cooking chorizo
4 bay leaves
2 red chillies (as hot as you like)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped finely
400g tin black beans

Chop the steak and chorizo and add to a large pot. Add the bay leaves, chillies and half of the garlic. Add enough water to cover and bring to the boil. Then set to a simmer and leave covered for about 2 hours (check occasionally to stir).

Fry the remaining garlic and the onion in oil until browning. Add to the casserole along with the tin of black beans. Include the water that the beans are in too. Give it a good stir and leave to cook on low for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with steamed white rice, stir fried cabbage or greens and a dash of habanero sauce. If you want to make the Farofa topping - here is the recipe:

Farofa:

40g butter
1 small onion, chopped finely
few rashers streaky bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup cassava flour
20g fresh parsley, chopped
salt

Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic and bacon. Fry on a high heat until cooked and then add the cassava flour. Mix in thoroughly until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs. Add some salt and the parsley. You can make this ahead and have it ready to put on top of the casserole.

Steam some rice, stir fry some cabbage and serve with a large wedge of orange. When you squeeze over the orange - it comes alive with flavour! Enjoy.