Monday Beans: Memorial Beans

Seems like we've all become so much more sophisticated about food than our parents' generation was. Exotic ingredients are available year round nearly everywhere. Delicious international restaurants are in even the smallest cities. And chain supermarkets have aisles of ethnic foods. But sometimes you just need to have a good old-fashioned American cookout. How can you top the classic barbecue with hamburgers and hot dogs (veg for me), potato salad, cole slaw and best of all, homemade baked beans?

I made Boston Baked Beans not too long ago so this time I took a crack at Jack's favorite, barbecued beans. I wanted to add bourbon, but I searched the liquor cabinet and came up empty and used beer instead. I'm not sure it added to the flavor, so if you try these, add about 1/2 cup of bourbon to the sauce and use all stock when cooking the beans.

Beer-Barbecued Baked Beans

1 lb. pea or navy beans
1 bottle of beer of choice
vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme

Soak the beans in water to cover overnight. Drain. Put the beans in a pan with the beer and enough vegetable stock to make about 3 cups of liquid. Add the bay leaves and thyme, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until barely tender. Don't overcook them.

1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 can plain tomato sauce
3 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. dark molasses
1 tbsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 tbsp. vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp or more freshly ground pepper

In a big skillet, saute the onion, garlic, pepper and celery in olive oil until lightly browned. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes. Add salt to taste.

When the beans are cooked but still firm, mix in the sauce and put everything either in a bean pot or a slow cooker. I used a slow cooker because it's more energy efficient than running the big oven for hours. If you're using an oven, baked the beans at 300 degrees for anywhere from three to six hours. Check periodically that there's enough liquid. If you use a slow cooker, set to low and cook for however long you want, 8 hours to overnight. The great thing about baked beans is it isn't critical how long they bake.

I made these two days before Memorial Day, cooled and refrigerated, then reheated in the slow cooker. They were so good, four people ate nearly all of them.

Monday Beans

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Memorial Beans

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