Brazilian Feijoada

Feijoada is a Brazilian dish of pork and black beans that's by tradition served over rice and served with fresh oranges.

This recipe, from the March, 2011 issue of Cooking Light, is now on my all time favorite recipe list. The combination of short ribs, pork butt and ham hock was amazing. The meat was so tender it instantly fell off the bones when I took it out of the pot after nine hours of cooking.

I’ve got to use that slow cooker more often because this is the way to cook. It took just a half hour to get everything in the pot and then I was done until serving.

This hearty recipe will feed a crowd. I cooked mine for nine hours and it could have easily gone ten or more.

Bon Appetit!

Brazilian Feijoada
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups bean mixture and 1 orange wedge)

2 cups dried black beans

4 slices applewood-smoked bacon

1 pound boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

¾ teaspoon salt, divided

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

3 bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed (about 2 pounds)

3 cups finely chopped onion (about 2 medium)

1 ¼ cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (9-ounce) smoked ham hock

1 tablespoon white vinegar

8 orange wedges

Place beans in a small saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil; cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain.

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Sprinkle pork evenly with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Increase heat to medium-high. Add pork to drippings in skillet; sauté 8 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Transfer pork to a 6-quart electric slow cooker. Sprinkle ribs evenly with 1/8 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add ribs to skillet; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Place ribs in slow cooker. Add drained beans, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, onion, and next 3 ingredients (through ham hock) to slow cooker, stirring to combine. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours or until beans and meat are tender.

Remove ribs from slow cooker; let stand 15 minutes. Remove meat from bones; shred meat with 2 forks. Discard bones. Discard ham hock. Return beef to slow cooker. Stir in vinegar and crumbled bacon. Serve with orange wedges.