Category: beans

Categories
bbq beans beef sweetcorn tomato

barbecue beef feijoada with spicy sweetcorn

As World Cup fever threatens to take over the globe, people like me think about one thing: what food can I use to celebrate and keep people happy. Things in bowls where people help themselves are always going to work. Aldi asked me for my best ideas, looking to the Brazil v Switzerland game for inspiration. And the former host nation from 2014 Brazil has plenty of ideas, and are also most likely to win according to FiveThirtyEight. Here’s a way of feeding a crowd and keeping with the Latin American theme: barbecue beef feijoada, made with brisket.

South American food is on the rise so couldn’t be more trendy. I’ve eaten feijoada (it’s pronounced “fezz-wah-dah”, by the way) a few times and always enjoyed it. But what’s in it? I consulted a Brazilian friend of mine in order to get a few ideas but like many ‘national’ favourites, everyone has a different view on what it should contain. Like shepherd’s pie, chilli con carne or lasagne al forno everybody has their own take in their house that defines the dish. A few patterns emerge: definitely pork, possibly beef, certainly black beans… other than that it’s fair game. Tomatoes or not? Paprika?

I went down a route I’ve trodden often, based on Jewish comfort food cholent. I started with a brisket, rubbed with herbs and spices, then stewed for several hours. The meat is sliced and finished on the barbecue for a charred and smoky flavour. It’s a bold plate of food, and I can see it going down really well at a party where people can spoon it into corn tortillas with pickled vegetables, or served in little pots with a dollop of sour cream. Make sure everyone can tuck in and help themselves, and serve up refreshing, cooling drinks.

I’m not sure how authentic this is – I say that about a lot of my cooking – but it got my São Paulo-based friend excited! Try my barbecue beef feijoada, and let me know what you think!

If you want to stock up for this recipe, check the great value of Aldi’s range, the variety on offer in store and remember Aldi has great value deals on Meats and fruit & veg every week as part of their Super 6 deals.

For further reading I recommend Hot and Chilli’s post on bite-sized feijoada – brilliant!

I was sent some lovely ingredients and shopping vouchers by Aldi to get inspired to make this.

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barbecue beef feijoada with spicy sweetcorn

Classic Brazilian beef stew. Perfect for parties and gatherings!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Brazilian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 13 hours 30 minutes
Servings 8 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the beef:

  • 1 kg beef brisket rolled and tied
  • 5 g Maldon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

To serve:

  • 200 ml creme fraiche
  • Hot sauce I like Frank's
  • Lime wedges

For the stew:

  • 2 onions peeled and sliced
  • 3 carrots diced
  • 2 red peppers
  • 1 tin tomatoes
  • 1 litre beef stock I used Knorr beef stock pots
  • 250 g smoked pork sausage sliced
  • 140 g dried black turtle beans soaked overnight (any dried pulses you like here would work)

For the sweetcorn:

  • 1 cob sweetcorn per person
  • Large knob of butter
  • Pinch salt
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Instructions

  • Make sure you've soaked your dried beans overnight before getting started.
  • Get a frying on a very high heat with a dash of oil. In a pestle and mortar bash the rub ingredients together until you have a fiery terracotta dust. Rub this all over the beef, as thoroughly as you can.
  • Sear the beef on all sides, building up a lovely colour. Put to one side when done.
  • In a large casserole dish, gently dry the onions, peppers and carrots in a little oil until softened, then add the remaining stew ingredients and stir until combined. Add the beef and add water as required until just a little of the brisket is peeping out. Cover loosely and simmer for 5 - 6 hours until the brisket is tender - when you put a fork into it it should slide back out easily. Leave covered for 30 minutes to rest. You can light your barbecue and prepare your corn in this time.
  • Parboil your corn in simmering water for 5 or so minutes. At the barbecue, take a small pan, your brisket and the nearly cooked sweetcorn. Slice your brisket in 1cm slices and place on the barbecue to char on both sides.
  • Melt the butter in the small pan and add the salt, paprika, and cayenne. Pop the sweetcorn on the grill and turn occasionally, brushing on the spiced butter. Cook until you have lovely black bits.
  • Swirl your creme fraiche with hot sauce. Serve the stew, beef and sweetcorn with some lime wedges on the side. Maybe serve with tortillas or tacos if you like. Most importantly, start eating!
Categories
beans chilli cumin food lime peppers rice tomato

15 minute chilli con carne meatballs

Jamie Oliver thunders on with another lightning-quick meal, this time turning his attention to chilli con carne. I’m no stranger to rapid chilli but this is a more hearty and balanced version than mine. This chilli dinner is from Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals.

The genius here is to disassemble chilli con carne’s parts (spiced meat, cumin, beans, tomatoey sauce) and cook each part separately. This way you get a “best of” chilli with all the things you love but in a fraction of the time.

I departed from Jamie’s recipe slightly – he used bulgar wheat where I went for regular basmati rice but the effect and timing is the same. I also didn’t have a lemon to hand so used a little more lime in the rice. He also grilled some chilli peppers as a garnish but they’re really not my thing so left them out. Other than that it’s exactly as is, and it’s extremely tasty. At 14 minutes to crank out it wasn’t too demanding on my time either! I’m especially a fan of blitzing a jar of peppers with passata to make a sauce base which I’m definitely going to repurpose in other recipes for a quick fix.

Chilli con carne meatballs (serves 4):

For the rice:

1 mug basmati rice

1 lime

1 cinnamon stick

For the meatballs:

400g beef mince

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 small jar peppers

4 spring onions

Bunch of coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

700g passata

1 tin kidney beans

1 pinch cumin seeds

  1. For the rice, put the basmati rice with twice the quantity of boiling water into a lidded saucepan over a medium heat, along with half the lime and the cinnamon. Stir often while you get on with everything else.
  2. Combine the mince and garam masala with some salt and pepper and divide into 16 meatballs. Get them into a frying pan over a hot heat with a little oil, tossing regularly.
  3. Get another frying pan super-hot. In a liquidizer blitz the peppers, half the spring onions, paprika, half the coriander and passata to a smooth sauce and add this to the pan.
  4. Add the kidney beans and cumin seeds to the meatball pan. Once the meatballs are browned on all sides remove while you continue to heat the beans. Once the rice is cooked plate with the meatballs, sauce and beans, and garnish with the remaining coriander and sliced spring onions. Serve with creme fraiche or natural yoghurt if you like, and the lime wedges on the side.


Gary Fennon

Categories
bacon beans paprika pasta tomato turkey

turkey & bean pasta

I’m a get-your-shopping-delivered kind-of-guy. In a family where both parents work someone carrying the shopping to your door just makes sense. It has it blips, when some things aren’t available, or maybe you can’t quite figure out what 350g of leeks look like so you over-order on purpose, but generally speaking there’s palpable relief when you shut the door on full cupboards without having left the house.

At the moment Sainsbury’s are running a “5 meals for £20” in a planner format. No ready meals, all recipe-led stuff. Naturally it’s not incredible gourmet food but homely, economic grub. I’ve been trying them out this week including turkey & bean pasta.

I substituted the chilli for paprika just for the hell of it. This should be as plain as you like but against expectation it’s jolly filling and jolly tasty. I froze some for another day, and will be looking forward to it.

Turkey and bean pasta (serves 4):

200g bacon lardons

500g turkey thigh mince

1 tin red kidney beans, drained

4 carrots, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cloves garlic

300ml vegetable stock

1 tin tomatoes

350g pasta (e.g. fusilli)

  1. Get a frying pan on a high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Add the bacon and fry for a minute or two, until the bacon is coloured all over.
  2. Add the turkey and carrots and continue to stir fry for a couple more minutes until the turkey is browned. Add the puree, paprika and cumin and continue to fry for another minute, mixing well.
  3. Add the garlic, stock and tinned tomatoes. When it comes to the boil reduce to a simmer for ten minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. When it’s done take a splash of the pasta water into the turkey stew then toss together with the drained pasta. Serve with garlic bread.
Categories
beans chicken chorizo

roast chicken with creamy chorizo butter beans

I had a tremendous lunch at Cathy’s the other week, featuring a millionaire shortbread trifle and an unctuous confit chicken leg. The star of it for me though was a creamy chorizo and butter bean stew, a rich and textured dish spiked with tht lovely Spanish sausage. It’s one taken from Jason Atherton’s Gourmet Food for a Fiver book and it’s absolutely fantastic. I ran right home and did it myself later that week.

The only change I made was to roast the chicken instead of confit due to time constraints, no other reason. I urge you to try the beans though, they’re dynamite.

Roast chicken with creamy chorizo butter beans (serves 2):

2 chicken legs

1 head of garlic, halved

A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

Pinch of paprika

100g chorizo, diced

100ml chicken stock

100ml double cream

1 220g tin butter beans (I love Napolina ones)

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Mix together half the thyme with the paprika and a generous dose of salt and pepper. Blend with a glug of olive oil and smear this paste all over the chicken legs. Pop the garlic halves in a baking tray and pop the chicken legs on top of the garlic. Bung in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the juices run clear when poked with a skewer.
  3. When the chicken is about 15 minutes away from done, fry the chorizo in a pan until browned. Remove to one side and add the remaining thyme, cream and stock to the pan. Turn the heat up to get everything bubbling away. When the liquids have reduced by half, drain the butter beans and throw them in the pan, and the chorizo too.
  4. Simmer for 10 minutes and check for seasoning. Serve with wilted spinach.
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