Baião de Dois Cearense com Jabá e Queijo de Coalho

📜 Ingredients

• •Jabá (dried beef), cubed250 g (9 oz)🔁 Carne-de-sol — Carne-de-sol is usually less salty and needs a shorter desalting time, or only a salt adjustment.
• •Dried cowpeas2 cups, about 350 g (12 oz)🔁 Fresh cowpeas or black-eyed peas — Fresh cowpeas cook more quickly; black-eyed peas make a drier dish with a different flavor.
• •White rice1½ cups, about 300 g (11 oz)
• 🧈Manteiga de garrafa3 tablespoons🔁 Good-quality manteiga de garrafa or regular butter — Regular butter works, but lacks the characteristic toasted, dairy-rich aroma.
• •Chopped onion1 large
• •Chopped garlic3 cloves
• •Chopped green bell pepper½ pepper
• 🧄Queijo de coalho, cubed250 g (9 oz)🔁 Halloumi or firm fresh cheese — Halloumi keeps its resilience under heat; fresh cheese melts more and is less springy.
• •Chopped cilantro½ cup
• •Black pepperTo taste
• •SaltOnly if needed, at the end
• •Hot waterEnough to cook the beans, then to cover the rice by about 1 cm (0.4 inch)

👨‍🍳 Preparation

1. 1

   Rinse the jabá (dried beef) under running water, cover it with cold water, and refrigerate for 8–12 hours. Change the water 2 or 3 times. Drain, then pressure-cook in fresh water for 25–35 minutes, until tender; shred or coarsely chop.

   Taste a small piece before using it: desalting should reduce excess salt, not erase the meat’s flavor.

2. 2

   Rinse the dried cowpeas and pressure-cook them in water for 12–15 minutes after the cooker reaches pressure, until tender but not split. Set aside the beans and 4 cups of the hot broth.

   For fresh cowpeas, skip the pressure cooker and cook in a regular pot for 20–30 minutes.

3. 3

   Heat 2 tablespoons of manteiga de garrafa in the saucepan. Brown the jabá for 4–6 minutes, until the edges are toasted. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and sauté for 4 more minutes, until the onion softens.

   Manteiga de garrafa should perfume the pan, not smoke; lower the heat if it begins to darken.

4. 4

   Add the rice and stir for 1 minute, until every grain glistens. Add the cowpeas, black pepper, and 3 cups of the reserved broth, or enough liquid to cover the rice by about 1 cm (0.4 inch). Cook partially covered over low heat for 15–18 minutes, until the rice is tender and the broth has nearly cooked away.

   If needed, add more hot broth a little at a time; baião de dois should be moist, not soggy.

5. 5

   Turn off the heat when the rice is cooked and a sheen of broth still lies between the grains. Fold in the queijo de coalho, cilantro, and remaining tablespoon of manteiga de garrafa. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes, until the cheese is warm and soft at the edges.

   Adjust the salt only after adding the jabá and queijo de coalho, both naturally salty.

6. 6

   Serve Ceará-style baião de dois hot, directly from the pot, in generous spoonfuls that bring together rice, beans, jabá, and cheese. Tradition calls for a shared table, without separating what was made to cook together.

   Carne-de-sol, nata, or sausage may appear in home variations, but they are not essential to this version’s identity.