Baked Beans

I like beans... black eyed peas, pintos, limas, kidney beans, and much more. Baked beans, however, have never really been at the top of my like list. To be more accurate, I've never really cared for baked beans. I never even bothered to make them for other people because I disliked them so much. Then I saw this recipe on Pinterest for Smoky Bourbon “Baked” Beans, and it looked so good that I decided to give it a try. The first attempt was pretty much a disaster. I used dry beans, but I failed to soak them overnight. The flavor was present in the final product, but the beans were still quite tough. So I rallied and came at it a second time... Success!!! Oh my goodness, they were so tender and so flavorful. I made these again for our Holiday Party at work, and the crockpot came back to me dry as a bone. The real beauty of this recipe is how very easy it is to prepare. Whether you like baked beans or not, you should give these a try. They really are that good. I'm going to give you the ingredients that I used, but feel free to check the original recipe. 

4 cans great northern beans or navy beans
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 small onion, finely diced
2-4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
Salt and black pepper to taste
¾ cup ketchup
¾ cup BBQ sauce
1 ½ Tbsps tomato paste
Pinch or two ground cumin
Pinch or two smoked paprika
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsps brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
Olive oil
9 oz Oscar Meyer real bacon bits
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup

Drain and rinse the beans, and place in a a large pot or a crock pot.

Next, add the diced onion; garlic; a few generous pinches of salt, cracked black pepper, cumin and paparika; ketchup, BBQ sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, molasses and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Pour chicken stock until all the ingredients are covered.

Stir the ingredients together. Simmer on auto heat in the crockpot or bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer until the beans are tender and the sauce is thickened. In the crockpot it takes six to eight hours and on the stove it takes about four hours. Right before serving add 2-3 Tbsps of maple syrup and the bacon bits and mix well.

Enjoy the amazing flavors that these beans offer with your favorite barbecue!

Navy Beans

Yesterday I tried my hand at some more homemade bread. So, I decided to keep it a bit more simple than I did last Sunday. Today I made a pot of navy beans and some delicious Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies.


NAVY BEANS

Nothing earth shattering here, but they were quite tasty. This is how I made them, but unfortunately I don't usually measure my spices on my own recipes so I'm going to approximate as close as possible (always start with less because you can always add more).

Bag of navy beans

Bag of cubed ham (I use the 1 lb bag of Farmland)

About 1 Tbsp of parsley

About 1 Tbsp of seasonall salt

About 1-2 tsp of garlic powder

About 1.5 tsp of white pepper

One small onion diced

Salt and black pepper to taste

Rinse the beans off, drain the water. Rinse the cubed ham and place in pot. Add onion and spices. Cover with at least 5-6 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Lower temperature and simmer for a couple of hours until the broth is thicker and more soupy. Add a small cup of water periodically to ensure too much water doesn't evaporate. You can add the salt and pepper in the pot, or add the extra by the bowl. I tend to like things with more salt and pepper, so I try not to overdo it in the pot.