Feijoada, Brazilian pork and black bean stew

Are you counting the days until the start of the World Cup in Brazil? or are you dreading losing your footie mad family to the big TV screen, and plan to stay away for the duration of the cup? I am in a middle category. I used to watch football with my late Dad and younger brother many years ago, and knew all the teams and players to the point that when I visited Italy for the first time, I managed to impress an Italian tifoso with my knowledge of the Italian football. I haven't watched any football for years yet I cannot but feel a frisson of excitement at the thought of the approaching World Cup.

Photo Credit: emarquetti via Compfight cc

Foodie bloggers were invited by Knorr to come up with a creative recipe inspired by Brazil and World Cup. I received a hamper of goodies to play with, including several boxes of Knorr stock and flavour pots as well as sauces, condiments, black beans and corn.
The most obvious choice was to cook a Feijoada, a Brazilian stew made with pork and black beans. I have never cooked a feijoada before, and my version is made with Knorr flavour pots.

Feijoada
Ingredients:
200g dried black beans, soaked overnight
400g pork chops, cubed
2tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 Knorr Flavour Pot/Garlic
1 Knorr Flavour Pot/Mixed Chillies (or less)
1 Knorr Flavour Pot/Mixed Herbs
1 small chorizo
2 oranges, one for juicing, one sliced into wedges

First rinse the black beans in cold water and soak overnight. Rinse well again in running water through a colander or sieve.
Cube the pork chops. Cut the thick rind of fat, cube it, and put in a frying pan with the olive oil. Once the cubes of fat have "melted", remove the crunchy bits with a spoon. Fry the cubed pork and chopped onion in the fat-oil mix for about 10 minutes, until browned on all sides.
Add 3 Knorr Flavour Shots, sliced chorizo and also season with salt. If you are not a big fan of hot spicy food, use only half of a Chilli shot (for me it was a bit too hot). Add the black beans, and pour the juice of one orange over the beans. Pour water, enough to cover the meat and beans, bring to the boil, then simmer on low for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
This dish is best cooked in a slow cooker, but as I don't have one, I just cooked it on the stove on low.
The pork is very tender and juicy, the beans soak all the spices and herbs.

I have been buying Knorr Flavour Pots/Mixed Herbs for  while now, as I like to add them to soups and pasta dishes. It is a combination of thyme, oregano, rosemary and basil, all the flavours are nicely balanced. It is a perfect little store cupboard ingredient.
All Flavour Pots contain no artificial flavour enhancers or colours, no artificial preservatives and are suitable for vegetarians.
A Garlic Flavour Pot is a convenient way of adding garlic to most dishes, just stir the contents of a little pot in while cooking.
Now Mixed Chillies was too hot for me, but then I am the kind of an eater who starts crying when eating hot food. I think next time I would use it sparingly, perhaps half a pot, then the rest can go in the freezer.

Have you tried a Feijoada? Will you be cooking Brazilian meals to celebrate the World Cup?

Disclosure: I received a selection of products to take part in the Knorr challenge. All opinions are mine.

Chris from Cooking Around the World has challenged the foodies to take part in a culinary-football-themed game this month. Read all about the rules of the game in his linky Bloggers Around the World.