PrintHow do you doctor up baked beans?
Yearning for some warm weather picnic-type foods like baked beans. What's your secret to the best tasting pot of baked beans? Start from scratch... all the way from soaking the beans? Based on canned ones? Molasses or maple syrup are well-known but do you add an unusual ingredient like say Coco-Cola? Shout-out about your recipe! Anyone eat 'em cold or maybe a cold baked bean sandwich?
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18 Comments:
I use a recipe that has been around our "WhiteTrash" family for a very long time. We concentrate on the meat and tend to do a simple bean dish. No need for the expensive brands... Mix some canned pork and beans with mustard, brown sugar, ketchup, diced onion and thick sliced bacon pieces in a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for about an hour. Hard to beat for taste and simple...
czken at 5:38AM on 02/27/08
Start with one pound of dried navy beans; soak them overnight. Rinse and drain and dump them in the slow cooker. Dice a large onion and add to the beans. Pour in a large can of crushed tomatoes, a couple handsful of brown sugar, 4 or 5 T of ground mustard. Add any kind of sliced sausage that you like; I use kielbasa. Give it a stir, start it on high until it is bubbling, then turn down to low. Walk away. Come back at the end of the day for a tasty supper.
ride&cook at 7:37AM on 02/27/08
I do hard white beans (cannellini or great northern) in the crock pot all day with water, S&P, brown sugar, molasses and a ham hock. OMG. They are so much better than jazzed up canned beans. Firmer, not gushy...and so tasty! The Frugal Gourmet used to have a great recipe for Boston Baked Beans and I springboarded off that recipe. You can also use a smoked turkey leg (like they sell at fairs and Disney) to do the beans instead of pork if you like.
chiff0nade at 7:53AM on 02/27/08
I'm a major baked bean lover ever since I tried AB's the Once and Future Bean. instead of fresh jalepeno, which dont always look very good in the local market, I substitute chipolte in adobo sauce.
huney_bumper at 7:58AM on 02/27/08
I use 2 big cans of pork and beans. I add to them dried mustard, ketchup, honey, few shakes of garlic tabasco sauce, brown sugar, 3 slices of chopped smoky bacon, chopped onion and pinch of chili powder. No real measures. Less on the hot even on the sweet and savory. This is always a huge hit here. Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins.
JerzeeTomato at 8:25AM on 02/27/08
I like the epicurious "hot and smoky beans"
bitchincamero at 9:40AM on 02/27/08
Baked beans from the can were my husband's entree of choice when he was in college. To this day, he still loves to perk them up with a bit of prepared hoseradish to taste.
We usually do dried navy beans (soaked) during bbq season. The horseradish goes in and brown sugar, molasses, dry or dijon mustard, onion, ketchup,sometimes a dash of cider vinegar to cut all the sweetness, s&p,worcestershire, ham chunks, then bacon on top. (also sometimes add a couple dashes of chipotle hot sauce) Pre- saute your bacon strips just until you have enough grease to sweat your onion in first. Bake 350 degrees 30-45 min, until bubbling and the bacon is crispy.
When we're throwing this together, we just keep tasting until it is suitable to the baked bean connoisseur's palate.
frederika at 9:56AM on 02/27/08
I'm a doctorer (no medical degree for a newly slaughtered word). Never eat them cold and shudder to think of putting them on a sandwich. Not a refried beans lover either. My doctoring:
I don't like a strong tomato taste and they are on the sweet side, but not too sweet. I brown ground beef, saute' onions & green peppers, dump in the beans (use a good brand), add brown mustard, molasses and brown sugar and crumbled crisp bacon on top.. Can be served heated on stove top, or baked in the oven. People rave over them! It's a meal in itself.
PerkyMac at 10:45AM on 02/27/08
We use Grandma's recipe:
1 pound hamburger
1/2 cup onions
1/4 cup bell pepper
clove garlic
1/2 cup celery
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon thyme (or less, to taste)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or more, to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large can pork & beans
1 tablespoon dry mustard
Brown hamburger, onions, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer. (Can also be simmered in a crock pot.)
jmoilanen at 1:04PM on 02/27/08
My aunt makes killer baked beans but I have yet to get her recipe in written form. I don't know what she does that I don't but I just can't replicate. She starts with canned beans and adds brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, and onions sauteed in bacon grease and the bacon from whence said grease came. They are divine and yes, I've eaten them cold the next day and they're just as good. I've never contemplated a sandwich of baked beans....
Hey JEP- she lives in New Haven so you're not far from baked bean heaven! :)
AuntJone at 1:45PM on 02/27/08
I add guanciale instead of salt pork and saba (boiled down grape must) instead of molasses to make an Italian-style baked beans. Here is the recipe.
HunterAnglerGardenerCook at 2:29PM on 02/27/08
My extremely not fancy recipe is a can of baked beans, something green (not fuzzy) from the fridge, lots of tabasco sauce topped with cheddar cheese. Yumyum.
dead_brontes at 3:34PM on 02/27/08
@czken...I'm half "White Trash" too, and we use the same recipe! The brown sugar and bacon are key.
savecara at 3:35PM on 02/27/08
BBQ sauce, brown sugar, mustard, balck pepper, garlic, crushed pineapple, bacon and fried onions.
The pineapple add a nice texture & sweetness.
Erinay77 at 5:18PM on 02/27/08
Good recipes & hints---thanks! Never thought of adding tabasco or pineapple.
What else do you serve with baked beans? Corn-on-the-cob is a given.
JEP at 8:39PM on 02/27/08
Lovin' the crushed pineapple suggestion, too! I love baked beans with all traditional picnic foods, including burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken and all the fixin's and salads. I never make them in the winter. Do you?
PerkyMac at 8:52PM on 02/27/08
I only use sweet onions - being in Seattle, Walla Walla's are a local pride, but even out of season I'll pay for the imports. Dice the sweet onions and cook up in bacon drippings, garlic, and worchester sauce. Once they're cooking, drip some honey over them and cook them some more. You'll know when it's right to dump the entire pan into your bean pot.
Nursie at 2:36AM on 02/28/08
Another vote for white trash beans! Although, british hubby insists on straight up heinz baked beans.
jcrisco at 2:24PM on 02/28/08