ghost’s diary a few weeks ago inspired me to make bean soup, and I bought these heirloom Navy beans from the gourmet market. That used 1/3 of the bag and I didn’t want any more bean soup so I made baked beans. I still intend to try SteelerGrrl’s vegetarian baked beans, which sound awesome, but I went for a traditional Boston-style bean cooked with bacon. They were yummy.
Boston-style Baked Beans
from allrecipes.com— serves 6
2cupsdry navy beans (1 pound), soaked overnight (or sub Great Northern or cannellini beans)
½pounduncooked bacon strips
1mediumonion, diced
½cupketchup
3tablespoonsmolasses
¼cupbrown sugar
1tablespoonWorcestershire sauce
2teaspoonssalt
¼teaspoonground black pepper
¼teaspoondry mustard
Drain and rinse soaked navy beans and place in a saucepan with cold water to cover by about 2 inches; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours (my heirloom beans only needed about 45 minutes). Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).- Arrange 1/2 of the beans in the bottom of a 3-quart casserole dish. Place 1/2 of the bacon strips over the beans and sprinkle 1/2 of the onions over top. Repeat layers once more. [I chopped the bacon instead of using whole strips.]
- Combine ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and dry mustard in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
- Pour sauce over the beans. Pour in just enough reserved cooking liquid to cover the beans. Cover the casserole dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and continue to cook, checking every 1/2 hour or so and adding more cooking liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry, until beans are tender, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 more hours. [I don’t understand this instruction because the beans were supposed to be “tender” before baking them. You want the bacon well cooked and the sauce thick, 3 hours baking is plenty.]
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