Brazilian Feijoada recipe

While searching for recipes to use a hamhock, came across this gem on myrecipes.com. My husband lived in Brazil for a while so I thought I'd give it a try and surprise him!

Brazilian Feijoada

Ingredients

• 2  cups  dried black beans
• 4  slices applewood-smoked bacon
• 1  pound  boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 3  bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed (about 2 pounds)
• 3  cups  finely chopped onion (about 2 medium)
• 1 1/4  cups  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 4  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (9-ounce) smoked ham hock
• 1  tablespoon  white vinegar
• 8  orange wedges

For the rest of the recipe, go HERE

I'll be honest, not a huge meat gal and this was a lot of meat. A little pricier dish than what I usually do, too! But the hubs loved it and said it was pretty close to perfect. Well, he really said it was perfect but I know it was a little off. For all of my culinary practice, I am not a good crockpot cook. Which may be in part due to the crappy crockpot we have(now had, thanks to my mom buying us a new one for our anniversary!). It always ran hot, even on low. Which makes for a lot of overcooked meat if you aren't super on the ball. Who is with kids?! Anyways, my only 'error' was upping the liquid to 2 1/2 cups. A straight 2 would have been better. And the meat counter was out of bone-in beef ribs so had to fudge with regular boneless ribs. Make sure those beans are in the liquid, too. They stay firm if not!

All in all, it's a good meal for the carnivorous sort. Won't be doing it often, but it's a nice treat for the hubs once in a while. Served with rice fried Brazilian style. Would be awesome with mango and avocado!