`Trust' these Brazilian recipes!
Rio Ball next Saturday evening, one lucky winner will walk away with what must be the entertainment coup of the year -- a spectacular Brazilian Sunday lunch for 12 people, which will be prepared and served pool-side at a luxury private home.
What a way to extend hospitality to your friends! Mrs. Carole Bailey, co-chairman of the Trust Ball, has let us in on the menu for the Sunday lunch and also supplied the menu recipes.
Writer Pierre Franey, in an article on this traditional feast, described the dishes thus: "Feijoada -- an assortment of dried meats served with black beans, rice, kale, hot sauce and orange slices -- is, in many ways, a metaphor for the Brazilian people: earthy, exotic, spicy and colourful. Its origins are in the slave-trading days in Brazil over 200 years ago. It is really a dish of African origins, and typical of the pervasive influence in much of what has become known as Brazilian cooking.
"Wealthy landowners saved the best pieces of pork for their tables and gave the slaves the tougher, less noble pieces of meat. The slaves began cooking the tough meat cuts for a long time with the beans. They eventually built around this peasant, which later became popular with all Brazilians.
"The feijoada completa is festively presented in a long dining room table, buffet style. At the centre is a huge platter with the sliced meats, surrounded by bowls with rice, black beans, orange slices, kale, rainha (manioc flour), and a three-alarm hot sauce made with malagueta hot peppers.
"Farinha can be prepared many ways, and in some versions of feijoada completa it may be fried with butter, egg and seasonings to make a crumbly mass.
"Dessert was a long buffet table filled with fruits, candies and a coconut pudding called Quinado. '' "In Brazil, feijoada dinners are usually served on weekends, often in mid-afternoon, because one yearns for a nap right after.'' And so it will be here.
*** FEIJOADA 3 lbs. beef jerky 1 smoked beef tongue (about 2 lbs.) 2 lbs. smoked pork tenderloin 11 lbs. smoked slab bacon 2 lbs. longaniza sausage* 2 lbs. salted pork knuckles* 21 lbs. salted pork ribs, cut in 4-inch pieces 1 lb. salted pork ears* 1 lb. salted pork feet* 3 lbs. dried black beans 1 cup cachaca (sugar cane spirit akin to rum) 12 navel oranges 2 cups manioc flour* Black bean pepper sauce (see recipe below) Kale (see recipe below) Rice (see recipe below) * If these items are unobtainable, substitute as follows: Use chorizo instead of longaniza sausage; 3 lbs. smoked ham instead of pork ears and knuckles; ham hocks instead of pork feet; farine instead of manioc flour .
First day: Soak all meats in water for 24 hours, changing water at least three times. This is essential to remove all salts from the meats, which are very salty.
Second day: Rinse black beans thoroughly, picking through them to remove any dirt or stones. Soak in water for three hours.
Using a very large pot, add all meats and sausage and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for five minutes. Drain meats and rinse in cold water to remove more excess salt.
Return the meats, except pork tenderloin and the sausage, to the pot, add beans and cachaca, and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for two hours. Add pork tenderloin and sausage and continue cooking for one hour, or until meas and beans are soft.
Remove all meat from the pot and store in the refrigerator. Refrigerate the beans in the cooking liquid.
Third day: Remove meats from refrigerator and debone. Slice meats and sausage.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place all the meat in a large roasting pan and pour in one cup of the cooking liquid from the beans. Cover the pan with foil and heat for 15 minutes, or until hot. At the same time, reheat the black beans in the remaining liquid on top of the stove.
Arrange the meat on a serving platter. Peel and section the oranges in separate bowls, serve the black beans, rice, kale, manioc flour, orange sections and black-bean pepper sauce. Yield: 12 or more servings.
*** BLACK BEAN PEPPER SAUCE (8 malagueta peppers* 1 bunch scallions 1 cup parsley, minced 1 cup black bean broth (cooking liquid from the Feijoada) MINCE malagueta peppers. Add remaining ingredients and serve with the Feijoada. *If malagueta peppers are not available, substitute sherry peppers .
*** RICE 4 tbsp. olive oil 1 cup minced onions tbsp. minced garlic 3 cups long grain rice 3 cups water Salt to taste, if desired Freshly ground pepper to taste HEAT oil in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until wilted but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add rice, water, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Serve hot. Yield: 12 servings.
*** KALE 2 large bunches fresh kale, about 1 lb. each 3 tbsp. olive oil Salt and fresh pepper to taste RINSE kale well, cut off and discard tough stems. Cut kale into julienne strips. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add kale, salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring often, until wilted, about two minutes. Serve hot. Yield: 12 servings.
*** QUINDAO (Coconut Flan) Custard 2 tbsp. butter 12 egg yolks 11 cups granulated sugar 2 lbs. fresh shredded coconut 1 tsp. vanilla extract Grated peel of 1 lime Sauce 3 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water 1 cup heavy cream 1 lb. unsalted butter at room temperature 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup Port To make the custard: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch angel food cake pan.
In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, coconut, vanilla and grated lime peel.
Pour mixture into the pan and place it in the oven, standing in a shallow pan that is filled with about two to three inches of water. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the point of a knife comes out clean. Cook on a wire rack.
To make the sauce: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until lightly caramelised. Remove from heat and add heavy cream, stirring constantly. Cut butter into pieces and add it, with the vanilla and Port. Mix until sauce is smooth and creamy. Cook to room temperature. Serve sauce with the custard. Yield: 12 servings.
*** CAIPIRINHA (National drink of Brazil) 1 small lime 2 tbsp. sugar 1 oz. cachaca CUT lime into 10 pieces and place in an old-fashioned glass. Add sugar. Crush lime and sugar well, using a pestle. Add cachaca and fill glass with crushed ice. Stir well. Yield: one serving.