"Have Kitchen, Will Travel" Hits the Road

On Friday morning I felt like a mobile butcher! I packed a cooler with a wide assortment of meat products - chicken, ribs, brisket, chorizo, linguica. We drove down to Rhode Island where I would bring my cooking challenge to someone else's home for the first time - my parent's!

Feijoada is the quintessential Brazilian dish, so that would be on the menu without question. Churrasco style barbecue is also a Brazilian tradition. You may have been to an American version of a churrascaria, such as Fogo de Chao or Midwest Grill right here in Cambridge. The waitstaff serves all kinds of grilled meat and slices it onto your plate off of enormous skewers. It is a fun experience if you've never tried it, but a definite recipe for food coma.

Feijoada is basically a stew of black beans and pork. I soaked the dried black beans overnight at my house, and brought them already drained down to Rhode Island. Once unpacked at my parent's house, I grabbed the biggest pot I could find and began by sauteing the onion and garlic in oil until they were nice and soft. I added the beans, water, dried red pepper and let everything come to a boil, which took quite a while! Once I got a good boil going, I turned the heat down and let the beans simmer for an hour. At that point I added the big chunks of meat and sausage for another two hours. I seasoned the stew with salt and removed the meat to slice it on a cutting board.

Since the Feijoada is packed with beef and sausage, I settled on a chicken churrasco recipe that had a light and refreshing marinade. I soaked the cubed chicken in olive oil, lime juice and garlic all day. Then brushed it with yogurt and grated Parmesan after the skewers were assembled. Unfortunately my parents were out of propane, but Ted did an awesome job "grilling" the chicken inside on a Calphalon grill pan.

We also served orange wedges, white rice, and a nice green salad my Mom put together.

The Brazilian Experiment was a success! Well, aside from some off-color commentary from my dad, specifically about beans being "good for your heart" and the phallic appearance of the spare ribs. The Feijoada was delicious, though it could have used a little more seasoning. I loved the combination of the hearty beans, spicy sausage, and cool crisp orange wedges. The Parmesan really stood out on the grilled chicken. Although my dad and Ted are not big fans of black beans, they had a healthy serving of them anyway and really seemed to enjoy the meal.

Thanks Mom & Dad for being guinea pigs!

Brazil scores a 3.5.