Brazilian Beans Recipe

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In Brazil we eat beans every day, especially at lunch, sometimes at dinner too. Our typical everyday dish consists of rice, beans, a protein (could be chicken or beef, most of times) and salad. Sometimes we add potato to this dish too. Yes, in Brazil we eat tons of carbs! I have to confess, however this is my favorite dish, nowadays I eat this combination just at lunch in small portions and without potato. I’m 30, I cannot eat carbs at the dinner anymore and potatoes, well, just in very special occasions, even at lunch.

I use Carioca beans to prepare my recipe. This variety is the most common in Brazil, besides some regions prefer other kinds of beans. Carioca (also called Carioquinha) is very similar to Pinto beans. In my opinion, the difference is Pinto is a little bit longer and tougher than Carioca, but both are very tasteful. You can use any kind of beans you prefer to make this recipe, red, black, white.

Each family in Brazil has its own beans recipe. I will show you my recipe which I learned with my mom and with my sister-in-law.

First trick: soak the beans! Wash the beans really well, discard the water and repeat this procedure until the water gets translucent.  Then put your beans in a bowl and cover with boiled water. Soak for at least 10 hours or overnight. This procedure helps to eliminate the starch from the beans, which is the main reason for gas production (you don’t want the beans produce gas inside you, do you?) and it also helps to cook the beans.

After the soaking time, drain the beans and rinse one more time. To cook my beans, I use my slow cooker. In Brazil, everybody uses a pressure cooker, I don’t use and I explained why HERE. But, if you feel comfortable, you can use a pressure cooker, no problem. The beans will be cooked the same way, the only thing that is different is the cooking time.

In the slow cooker, add the beans (2 cups) and cover with water, more or less two inches above the beans line. Let it cook for 8 hours (low) or 4 (high). If you prefer to use the pressure cooker, let it cook for 30 minutes after it starts making noise.

When the beans are cooked, it’s time to add flavor and let your beans creamy. If you are using a slow cooker, transfer your beans (with the water where it cooked) to a large regular pot. Let it cooking over medium heat, with no lid for around 20 minutes. It will let your beans creamy. Stir sometimes.

While your beans are boiling in the other pot, prepare the season. In a large skillet, add oil (can be olive or vegetable oil), onions and garlic. These are the basic seasons. If you want to add more flavor, you can add bacon too. But this is not necessary.

When the bacon is golden and the onions translucent, transfer this mixture to the beans and stir.

Stir the beans. Season with salt and black pepper. Let the beans cook until they got creamy.

If you want, you can also add Polska Kielbasa sausage to the beans.

In Brazil we don't have Polska Kielbasa, but we have a very similar sausage called Linguiça Calabresa

You can store leftovers in the fridge for up 3 days (if they stay in the fridge too long, they started to produce gases again) or you can freeze them for up 2 months.

Serve with Rice and have the most traditional Brazilian cousine dish in your home.

Traditional Brazilian dish: rice, beans, a kind of protein and potatoes

I wish you could enjoy it!

My Slow Cooker beans recipe

BRAZILIAN bEANS

AUTHOR Fernanda Rios

CUISINE Brasileira

SERVES  6

IngredientS

·        2 cups dried beans (I used Carioca or Pinto beans)

·        Water enough to wash, soak and cook the beans

·        3 tsp oil (olive or vegetable)

·        ½ big onion, chopped

·        2 cloves of garlic, chopped

·        Salt and black pepper to taste

·        2 tsp bacon, chopped (opcional)

·        ½ polska kielbasa sausage, chopped (opcional)                             

INSTRUCTIONS 1.    Wash the beans several times, until the water coming out of the beans is translucent. Cover the beans with boiled water and soak the beans overnight or around 10 hours. 2.    After, drain the beans and discard the water. In the slow cooker, add the beans and enough water to cover the beans plus 2 inches. Cook around 8h (low) or 4h (high) until the beans are tender. If you wish you could use a pressure cooker for 30 minutes. 3.    When the beans are cooked, transfer them to a regular pot. Let them boil over medium heat without covering while you prepare the seasons. 4.    In a large skillet, add oil or bacon (optional). Add the onion and garlic, stir until translucent. Add this mixture to the beans. 5.    You can add Polska Kielbasa sausage to the beans (opcional). 6.    Add salt and Black pepper to taste. 7.    Stir and let the beans boiled until it gets creamy (around 20 minutes).