Dear hubs just crossed a major milestone – his big 5-0. I have uncomfortable memories of how in my teens and twenties I thought that 50 was really old…I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere near that age. And now that I’m a shade off this milestone as well I’m happy to say it’s not so bad after all! There are perks of having one’s rough edges worn off and and a greater ability to live with the greys and uncertainties of life.
So the MIL wanted to host the “proper” 50th dinner celebration but she decided to combine it with a giant pre-Chinese New Year for the giant extended family. So I thought it made more sense for me to throw a birthday lunch hubs and his friends. It was quite a fun party – mainly his golfing buddies and wives and it ended up being a big feeding event (I have an inner caterer in me that I channel ever so often).
So it started off with me having some nice picanha beef – hubs adores beef and I figured I should at least cook him something he likes. Then of course it led on to being a Brazilian-themed lunch, replete with Brazilian fish stew, prawn stew, and hearts of palm salad. Hubs also loves beans and is crazy about feijoada and so since I had so much stuff going on the stove, I decided to make the feijoada in the Instant Pot instead of the stove.
I used smoked ham hock to infuse a nice smoky flavour into the stew. This stew is actually a little more meaty than most black bean stews but I guess I wanted it a little bit more luxe than the usual street food version.
I like what one of my guests said when I served the feijoada. “This dish looks really ugly but the flavours are amazing!”. So gratifying!
Instant Pot Feijoada
Ingredients
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 4 chorizo sausages, cut into 1-inch thick pieces
- 3 14-oz cans of black beans
- 2 medium sized onions, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tbsp jalapeños, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup water
Method
- Put the Instant Pot in sauté mode. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes till lightly caramelized.
- Add the chorizo sausages in and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
- Move the vegetables and sausages to the sides of the inner pot and place the ham hock in. Cover with the black beans and water.
- Add the bay leaves, paprika, jalapeños and stir through the liquid.
- Turn off the sauté mode. Close the Instant Pot and turn the valve to sealed position. Put on manual high pressure for 40 minutes.
- Allow normal pressure release. Take out the ham hock and shred the meat and return the meat into the Instant Pot. Discard the bones.
- Turn the sauté mode back on and simmer for another 10 minutes to reduce the liquid, stirring occasionally to make sure the bottom of the stew does not get burned.
- Serve hot with some cauliflower rice.
(For those following this blog, this is not a low carb recipe. I can tolerate a small amount of the stew without my sugars spiking dramatically but for those looking for true low carb recipes this is definitely not one!)
Still Feeling Peckish 
This sounds delicious!