Feijoada

Feijoada  this is one of those big, hearty, meat-and-bean stews that seem to be the national dish of one country or another. In this case, the country is Brazil and the stew is black beans and meat  stew .

Feijoada has as many versions as there are cooks, but in Brazil it almost always has black beans and always has a mixture of salted, smoked and fresh meats.

Some versions are a little spicy from the sausages, others totally mild. Some people's feijoada are thick "eat-it-with-a-fork" versions, others, like this one, more like a traditional stew.

The name comes from feijão, Portuguese for "beans". The basic ingredients of feijoada are beans with fresh pork or beef.

Either way it's traditional to serve this stew with white rice, and maybe some sautéed collard greens.

One common ingredient is carne seca, a salted, dried beef often available in Latin markets. Corned beef is a decent substitute for carne seca, and it is what we use here in this recipe.