If it's Wednesday, it must be Feijoada

In Brazil, Wednesday is Feijoada day.  No one down there seemed to be able to tell me why - it's just tradition.  And I like that.  Feijoada is a great way to get over the mid-week blues.  But it takes some time to make, so my busy Brazilian colleagues instructed me to make it on Sunday and let it sit.  Like so many rich stews, it only improves sitting a day or two.  A quick reheat on Wednesday and we're good to go.

So often, traditional dishes with peasant roots come in many varieties.  But the basics of black beans and lots of pork and beef, are a foundation. Here I prepare a version heavy with meat, as I had in Brazil many times.  Sorry, Mark Bittman.  I look forward to the challenge of a followup endeavor to develop a lighter version aligned with Mark's "Eat-less-meat-arianism" philosophy, very soon.
1-1/2 lb corned beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb kielbasa sausage (fresh used here)
1-1/2 lb boneless pork country ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 smoked ham hock
1 lb dried black beans
1/4 lb bacon, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 red chili pepper or jalapeño, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
About 6 cups water
2 navel oranges, peeled, one sliced and one diced

Soak the beans in a large mixing bowl of water all day or the previous night. Drain when ready to use. Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat a bit of canola oil in a very large Dutch oven. Cook the bacon for about 10 minutes and then remove to a bowl. Add the pork to the Dutch oven in two batches, and brown well. Remove to the bowl with the bacon. I also browned the corned beef as well, but it is probably not necessary.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage in about 2 cups water for about 15 minutes.

Slice into 1-inch pieces. If using pre-cooked kielbasa, omit the pre-cooking step. Add the sausage to the Dutch oven and brown. I moved them to one side and added the onions to the other.

When the sausages are browned, remove to the bowl and continue cooking the onions for a total of about 10 minutes, until they are well softened and caramelized a bit. Add the garlic and the red chili (or jalapeño) and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Now return all the meats to the Dutch oven and fold in the beans.

Add enough water just to cover. Add the diced orange and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Stir gently, cover and place Pot in the oven.

Bake for an hour and then give the stew a stir. Continue cooking for about another hour to hour and a half, until all the meats are very tender and the meat falls off the ham hock. When finished cooking, remove the ham hock from the stew and remove the meat from the bone. Discard the bone and any skin (I save the bone for soup!). Return the hock meat to the stew and stir it in.

Your beans should be very soft and the stew should be thickened, but with a sufficient broth. Adjust water if needed and salt and pepper to taste as needed (I found the corned beef did plenty of salting, and none was needed).

Serve over rice with orange slices, cilantro, and ideally a nice sautéed kale, which is traditional.

Serves 8.

Feijoada in Brazil served with rice and traditional fried manioc (cassava or yuca root).