Dish of Black Bean Stew with Chicken
(click to enlarge)

Black Bean & Chicken Stew


Brazil   -   Feijoada de Frango (chicken) or Feijoada de Galinha (hen)
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 5 #
***
hrs
Yes		 This is a simpler version than Brazil's famous Feijoada with Meats (say "fay-jwah-dah"). Amounts given here can be considered a "half recipe", making a mere 5 pounds.

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Black Beans (1)
Salt
Chicken Meat (2)  
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
-- Aromatics
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Bell Pepper grn
Scallions
--------
Olive Oil ExtV
White Wine
Broth (3)
-- Seasoning
Bay Leaves
Salt
Pepper, black
Nutmeg
Chili Powder (4)
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Vinegar (opt. 5)
-- Garnish
Cheiro Verde (6)
-- Serve with
Orange Slices (7)
White Rice (8)
  -or- Farofa

Do-Ahead   -   (8 hrs - 5 min work)
  1. Soak BEANS overnight or at least 6 hours with 1/2 T Salt and plenty of Water. Drain and rinse.
  2. Cook Beans in water to cover by an inch until barely tender. Skim off any foam that rises. Don't overcook and don't drain. Hold in the liquid until needed - it should just cover the Beans.
Prep   -   (40 min)
  1. Cut Chicken to your serving size, half pieces for table, medium bite size pieces for buffet, or however you want. I usually use the bite size.
  2. Chop ONION small. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Chop CELERY fine. Chop BELL PEPPER small. Slice SCALLIONS less than 1/4 inch. Mix all.
Run   -   (3-1/4 hrs)
  1. Preheat Oven to 450°F/232°C (max for parchment paper). See also Frying.
  2. Tumble CHICKEN with Olive Oil and a little Salt and Pepper.
  3. Place Parchment Paper on a baking tray and place Chicken on it. A half sheet (13x16 inch) will be a little crowded for bite size pieces, but they will shrink some.
  4. Slide into the hot oven. Roast until just barely browned. Remove to a mixing bowl.
  5. In a Dutch Oven or heavy bottomed pot (4 quart), heat 2 T Olive Oil and fry Aromatics mix stirring until Onions are translucent.
  6. Stir in White Wine for 1 minute.
  7. Stir in Chicken along with any liquid in the bowl. Stir in Beans with their cooking liquid.
  8. Pour in Broth as needed to just barely cover the contents. Stir in all Seasoning items, cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered, stirring now and then, until chicken is just tender, 20 to 45 minutes depending on size. There will probably be more liquid than you want for finish, so boil it down uncovered as necessary.
  9. Stir in Vinegar.
  10. Serve hot, garnished with Cheiro Verde and with Orange Slices (on the side or as Garnish). Accompany with steamed Rice or Farofa.
NOTES:

  1. Beans:

      Small black beans are usually used, even in regions that don't usually use black beans, except in Bahia and Goiás where red or brown beans are sometimes used. In Portugal white or red beans are used. This dish is best made from dried beans soaked overnight with salt, but if you don't have the time you can use a "quick brine" (for details see our Soaking / Brining Dried Beans page. Use fresh dried beans as old ones will never become tender.

  2. Chicken:

      In Brazil, it's common just to cut up a Chicken into 6 or 8 pieces and use it skin and bones. I do thighs, boneless, skin on or off. This works much better for buffet service, and probably on the family table. I recover flavor from the skins and bones with the Broth.

  3. Chicken Broth:

      When preparing for a dish of this type, I buy chicken a day ahead as whole thighs or whole leg quarters. I remove skin, bones and fat, putting all that in a pot with water to cover well. I simmer for about 4 hours, then strain out and discard the solids. The fat is easily removed using a gravy separator. This becomes the broth for the recipe. It is strong enough to be extended a bit with water if need be. For more on making and storing Broth, see our page Soup Stock / Broth.

  4. Chili Flake:

      Here you control the chili heat by type and amount. For very mild, I use Aleppo Mild. For a bit hotter I use Aleppo Extra Hot (which is not very hot). Use your own best judgement.

  5. Vinegar:

      Some don't use this, but it does lighten the flavor of bean dishes. I use Sherry Vinegar, but others will work fine as well, but I'm not fond of cider vinegar in most recipes.

  6. Cheiro Verde:

      This universal Brazilian garnish is just Parsley and Scallions (or Chives) chopped small. If you want a recipe, we have Cheiro Verde:.

  7. Orange Slices:

      These are very traditional, and supposed to help digestion. For table service they can be a garnish, but for buffet service I'd offer them on the side.

  8. Rice:

      This should be a plain steamed long grain rice (Thai Jasmine works great).

    Farofa:

      This is very common in Brazil, but you have to have Manioc Farina. It's uncommon in North America but available on-line. Farofa is easy to make by our recipe Farofa.

  9. Frying:

      The pattern recipe calls for pan frying, which makes quite a mess to clean up and doesn't brown as evenly as oven roasting. If you wish to fry, then deglaze the pan with the White Wine.

  10. Slow Cooker:

      I do not cook in a slow cooker, I am too impatient and too much of a control freak. On the other hand, with recipes of this sort, I sometimes bring the whole recipe to a full boil on the stovetop. I then dump it into a slow cooker set to High, and when it starts to bubble I turn it down to Low. It will still take a bit longer, but the results will be good. For "slow cooker all the way" I have seen comments that beans were not tender enough after 6 hours, so figure 8 to 10 hours. Note that Red Kidney Beans are toxic if not given a good boil.
  11. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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