RECIPES

Bean Croquettes*

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white dried beans                        2 egg yolks
1 cup tomato sauce                                            Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter                                         1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon minced onion                                  Bread crumbs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour                          Oil for frying

Method

Liquify beans with tomato sauce (or grind to a purée and then add tomato sauce).
Melt butter in a saucepan and gently sauté onion. Stir in the flour. Pour in the bean purée add egg yolk and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape. This takes from 20 to 30 minutes. Cool Thoroughly. Shape into croquettes, roll in bread crumbs, then beaten egg and again in bread crumbs. Fry in hot oil.

                  Black Bean Cake*

Ingredients

2 cups cooked plain black beans                         ¼ cup chopped onion

1 ¼ cups bread crumbs                                       1 slightly beaten egg

½ cup tomato sauce                                            Seasoning

Crisp slices of bacon and hard-boiled

   Eggs for garnish

Method

Beans should be of the consistency of a medium cream sauce. Add bread crumbs, tomato sauce, onion and egg. Season to taste. Turn into a well buttered 1 ½ quart pudding mold and bake in a 375º oven for approximately 45 minutes. Unmold and garnish with wedges of hard-boiled egg and crisp slices of bacon. Cover with tomato sauce, if desired.

                 Brazilian Baked Beans*

Ingredients

1 pound dry white beans                                 ½ pound bacon, cubed

1 pound breast of lamb, cubed with as             ½ cup chopped onions

    much fat cut away as possible                     1 crushed garlic clove

1 pound smoked ham or tongue, cubed               Salt and black pepper

1 bayleaf                                                       Bread crumbs

1 cup peeled, chopped fresh tomatoes               Butter

   (or 1 cup tomato sauce)

Method

Pick over beans and soak until the next day. Add water to cover and cook with lamb and ham (or tongue) and bayleaf. Simmer until meats are tender and beans are cooked. Fry bacon in a skillet, drain off most of the grease and sauté the onions. Add the tomatoes (or sauce), garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes then add to the beans. Continue to simmer beans for another 40 or 50 minutes, taste and correct seasoning. Pour 1/3 of the beans into a buttered casserole and place the pieces of meat on top, then add the rest of the beans. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top, dot with butter and bake in a preheated 375º oven for 30 minutes.

*Source: “Brazilian Cookery”, Traditional and Modern, published by Margarette de Andrade. Information provided for the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the OAS