Old Fashioned New England Baked Beans
Ingredients
1 lb dry navy beans | ||
1 large onion diced | ||
1 tbs kosher salt | ||
1 tbs fresh cracked black pepper | ||
1 cup molasses | ||
1 tbs colemans English mustard | ||
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce | ||
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar | ||
1/4 lb salt pork | ||
1/4 pound thick sliced bacon (water blanched for 10 minutes) |
These beans take a total of 9 hours to cook. Don’t be alarmed, four of the nine hours are for soaking the beans! This an authentic preparation ideal for a cool fall day and once you taste them you will discover that these beans are full of deep flavor and are absolutely delicious! I use a cast iron dutch oven to make these beans and sometimes when I am feeling particularly ambitious during the last hour of cooking, we finish the beans off on a Weber grill, by placing the dutch oven over charcoal and wood chunks. This will impart a wonderful smokey flavor. Additional ingredients may be added to vary this bean dish are; tomato sauce, cloves, and bay leaf or a touch of ginger.
- Rinse and pick over beans. Place beans in a large kettle or dutch oven and cover with water. Let soak for 4 hours. Drain and place beans back in dutch oven and cover again with water.
- Bring to a boil, then cook covered for about 45 minutes, or until beans are just tender.
- Drain the beans and reserve the liquid.
- Combine the onion, salt, molasses, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar.
- Place about 1/3 of the beans in the dutch oven with a small amount of the reserve liquid.
- Cover with about 1/3 of the molasses mixture.
- Place several slices of pork and or bacon on top.
- Repeat layers, adding part of the reserved liquid with each layer.
- Bake at 300 degrees covered for 5 to 6 hours or until tender, checking occasionally , and adding water if needed to keep beans covered.
- If desired you can place beans on a covered grill with charcoal and wood chips for the last hour of cooking.
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