This is part 1 of a series on Brazilian cooking. Several more articles are scheduled for the next two weeks.
Brazilian Beans
Lunch in Brazil is typically centered around a plate of delicious rice and beans. A pile of white non-sticky rick with a s generous helping of soft beans in their own sauce (their starch thickens up the cooking water forming something like a gravy). Next week’s article will explore lunch more fully — for today, let’s focus on the beans.
Beans for lunch every day may sound monotonous, but it grows on you. I grew to love them so much when I was an exchange student that the first thing I bought when I returned to Brazil two years later the first thing I bought was a pressure cooker. I still consider that pressure cooker to be one of my best purchases ever.
There is some disagreement amongst Brazilians about which type of beans should be used for rice and beans. In Minas and São Paulo it was mainly brown beans with the occasional appearance of black or red beans. Here in the USA I use dried pinto beans or black beans. I am growing some Italian Rose and Purple King beans in my garden this year to use as well.
With my first host family, my host father and mother would sit at the kitchen table each evening to pick the rocks out of the beans while talking about the day and drinking. Most people I knew didn’t pick out rocks, I think they are screened better today than they used to be.
Ingredients
- Pressure Cooker
- 2 cups dried beans
- 4 cups water
- Spices to taste
- Oregano
- Garlic
- Other (?) — less common options include cumin and rosemary
- Salt
- Meat (optional)
Instructions
Throw everything into the pressure cooker. The best tasting beans will have a piece of salty flavorful meat cooked with them. Bacon is a good choice, as is good sausage or a piece of fatty pork. I’m somewhat partial to pork products it seems. Beef works well too, but chicken will need a little bit of chicken bullion added to make up for the weak flavor.
Close the pressure cooker and put it on high until it reaches pressure, then turn it down so that it just keeps the pressure up. After 45 minutes (35 for black beans) cool the pan so you can open it then see how soft the beans are.
Bean Doneness
Bean doneness is mostly a matter of personal preference. If you are making soup or salad with them, stop cooking when you can press them with a fork, but they are still firm and pasty.
For refried beans, stop when they mash easily with a fork and have a creamy texture.
For Rice and Beans, you need to stop somewhere in the middle. Ideally you will still have liquid in with the beans. Press several spoonfulls of beans against the side of the pressure cooker and then simmer to help thicken the liquid. You should end up with beans that are extremely soft and creamy but not falling apart in a tasty bean gravy.
Two Day Beans
Some of my most successful times cooking beans have been leftovers.
I stop cooking them when they were still more firm then you want them. They should still be edible and soft enough that you can mash them, but firm enough that you have to do so intentionally.
I let the beans cool down on the stove instead of putting them right in the refrigerator. The next day the liquid had thickened up, the beans had continued to cook as the pan cooled down, and the flavor from the sausage had permeated the beans more thoroughly.
Unfortunately this requires more planning than making beans the same day you want to eat them.
Variations
Once you can cook beans in a pressure cooker a world of options opens up. Add cumin, stewed tomatoes, onions and ground beef for chili. Drain the beans while firm for use in salads and soups. Keep cooking them till they’re mushy, add sour cream, chives and cilantro for a fantastic bean dip. Cook your pork or chicken in with the beans and get juicy fall-apart mean with great tasting beans. Enjoy!
