Dutch Oven Cooking of Brazilian Beef Stew
Last weekend we fired up our outdoor wood-burning oven for a party where we cooked 26 pizzas for a bunch of friends. I love cooking in the oven but it takes about 1 ½ hours to get the temperature up to the 700°F to 800°F necessary for proper cooking.
Once hot, the oven walls absorb a lot of the heat and will stay warm all night at about 250°F, perfect for slow cooking something in a Dutch oven.
So whenever I fire up the oven for pizza, I try to prepare something like this Brazilian beef stew (also called Feijoada) earlier in the day and stick it in the oven after we are done making pizza and it has cooled down some.
You don't need a wood-burning oven to prepare this Brazilian Stew. In fact, the recipe calls for a slow cooker (crock pot) but a Dutch Oven works fine too and should take a little less time.
Kielbasa
I'm going to say it right up front; in my opinion the kielbasa makes this dish special. The beef is good but I thought it was a little dry and that could be because of the length of time I cooked it or the cut of meat I used but the kielbasa was fantastic.
Tender, melt in your mouth kind of good. I would suggest increasing the amount of kielbasa you use. I will next time.
I also switched some of the black beans for cannellini beans. Not sure why but I love the flavor and texture of cannellini beans.
I did, however, puree a can of black beans as the recipe suggests. Not only did the black beans add flavor, they thickened the stew.
I doubled up on this recipe because I started with 2 pounds of stew meat in the freezer and the recipe only called for 1 pound. I'm going to post the amounts listed in the magazine article that serves 6 but then again, that depends on who the 6 people are.
When I pulled the stew out of the oven on Sunday morning, it smelled so good I had to have a small bowl just to make sure it tasted OK. It did and later I found out when I was out on bagel run, my wife had the same idea.
For dinner, we served the stew over rice - half white/ half brown. The kids must have enjoyed it, they both asked to have it for school lunch on Monday.
CuisineAtHome suggests serving traditional rice and collard greens on the side but I don't think I can get my kids to eat collards just yet. Soon I hope.
📖 Recipe
Brazilian Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound beef stew meat
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound kielbasa sliced into ½ rounds
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1½ cup red onion diced
- 14.5 ounces tomatoes diced
- 15 ounces black beans drained, rinsed, then puréed in blender or food processor.
- 15 ounces can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon hot chili powder
Finishing Touches
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- jalapenos sliced
- orange wedges
- orange zest
Instructions
- Start by seasoning the beef stew meat with salt and pepper and then browning it in a large fry pan that has been preheated with the vegetable oil.
- Once browned, transfer to a plate and reserve. The recipe says to line the plate with paper towel that will absorb any liquids, but I'm thinking you may want to pour any reserved liquid back to the pot.
- After browning the beef stew meat, do the same with the kielbasa slices and reserve until needed.
- Deglaze the pan with the orange juice, being sure to scrape up any brown bits (fond) from the pan. This is where a lot of flavor is.
- In a crock pot, combine the onion, diced tomatoes, pureed black beans, cannellini beans, garlic and hot chili powder.
- Add the browned meats and the remaining deglazing liquid plus any juices left over from the resting meats.
- Cover the crock pot and cook on the high heat setting for 4 hours or on the low setting for 6 hours. I figure my outdoor wood-burning oven is more like the slow setting.
Finish the Dish
- Add the vinegar, taste to adjust seasoning and garnish with the jalapeno slices, orange wedges and orange zest.
Notes
Kitoeo African Beef Stew Recipes
I told you about the African vegetable mash called Mukimo, which my friend Susan taught me how to prepare. Now, I want to share with you this African beef stew we served it with. It's called Kitoeo and is another straightforward dish to prepare.
Susan comes from Kenya and told me all young girls in her country are taught this cblassic dish. Growing up, her mom would serve this dish two to three times a week but always made it fresh because refrigeration wasn't what it is today.
She makes this with a flavoring mix called mchuzi mix from a company called Royco. The ingredients include cornstarch, salt, sugar, coriander, cinnamon, fennel seeds, turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin, methee seeds and some artificial flavor enhancers. This gets mixed with water to reconstitute and then added to the stew.
📖 Recipe
Kitoeo African Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 pounds beef cut into small cubes
- salt & pepper to taste
- 4 plum tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Beef Royco Mchuzi Mix
- ¼ cup cold water
- 1 bunch cilantro
Instructions
- Saute the onions and garlic until golden brown.
- Add beef and cook for a few minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste and simmer on low until the beef drippings start to dry up and the beef turns golden brown. Approximately 15 minutes.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and continue to cook on low until the beef is soft and produces a thick gravy. This can take another 10 to 15 minutes.
- Mix the tablespoon of Beef Royco Mchuzi mix in the water until smooth and add it to the stew. Continue cooking on low unti lthe beef is tender (15 more minutes).
- Just before you take the Kitoeo off the stove, add the finely chopped cilantro and mix to combine then serve with Mukimo.
Jenni
Looks fantastic! Love the addition of orange juice, too. I'd have had a bowl for breakfast, for sure! 🙂
tcambro8
This is a great recipe. I used andouille sausage instead of kielbasa. A tablespoon of regular chili powder with a teaspoon of cayenne and threw in a chopped jalapeno.
Christina
Looks good but very definitely not feijoada. Not only because of the bean substitution but because feijoada is made of pork…
Sueli
Dear Mr. Reluctant Gourmet,
I was intrigued by your addition of white beans to "Feijoada", but after reading the recipe I thought it a good idea. This old Brazilian dish is my favorite. Like you I learned by doing, while in Brazil, where I come from, I only enjoyed my mom's Feijoada, but here, after 41 yrs I learned to adapt and by working at it duplicated my mom's flavor. I would never tell you your recipe is not feijoada just because it has no pork, this is a poor-cook's recipe, there probably are as many variations of the dish as there are people cooking it. I like your creativity in adapting the recipe to your needs, in my humble opinion that is what makes a good cook. Just a note on the collard greens: after removing the thick center vein,make a tight roll of the leaves and chiffonade it, you may have to make more than one roll, heat a cast iron pan to high and add evoo. and the greens, using no salt, saute them very quickly stirring all the time, when they turn a bright green,keeping the heat high, and before water starts forming remove from the pan, add a little salt and serve immediately. I have been writing a cookbook on Braz. traditional foods, and new also, one of these days I may be ready to publish it. I enjoy your blog and applaud your ingenuity.
The Reluctant Gourmet
Hi Sueli, thank you so much for your comments and suggestions. I can't wait for your cookbook to come out so please let me know so I can share it with my readers. Best to you.
mike kukowski
No pork? Kielbasa is a pork sausage.
Germainr
Love your recipes - I have some. questions- instead of the port can extra stock be used and also is the red wine vinegar a must or can I omit it and can yellow or white onions be used instead of the red onions.. thank you and have a great day..Germaine
G. Stephen Jones
Thank you Germainr, if you don't want to use port, try some extra stock. If you hate red wine vinegar, substitute another vinegar, and of course you can substitute a yellow or white onion. Will your stew taste like mine, no, but who knows, it may be better.
Diana
This was quite good. I used a can of refried black beans instead of smashing the beans myself, because I already had them. I used a link of Spanish chorizo instead of Kielbasa, because I already had it. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly and it was scrumptious. I was impressed. Thank you
G. Stephen Jones
Thanks Diana for letting me know.