Baked Beans

[LJFATS]

would smoked ribs and bbq baked beans count? I have that quite often.

( I am also thankful huricane season is over.)

[Susan in FL]

I had some tasty 'Cinghiale' when in Pietrasanta, near Lucca in good 'ole Toscana. It's a rare breed of pig, and the cutlet was marbled and the fat rendered and almost crisp. Not even really unctous.

But I digress.

The pork was served with a side of cannelini beans. Boiled in stock, drained and tossed in EVOO, S+P. Incidentally, the pork was grilled on an apple/grapevine fire and brushed with a rosemary bush soaked in oil.

Soooo tasty. The beans were tender and you could mash 'em to soak up the pork juices.

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That sounds good, especially with how the pork was cooked. I bet the grilling smelled wonderful, too. The beans in our puree were cannellini beans. Pork and cannellini beans... obviously one of the winning pork & beans flavor combinations!

[jackal10]

Cassoulet

[Susan in FL]

would smoked ribs and bbq baked beans count? I have that quite often.

Absolutely! ...one of the best.

Russ and I were having this conversation about the many forms that pork & beans take yesterday when we were walking on the beach, and since then I've been itching to make some Boston Baked Beans from scratch, which I've done only once. I think I want Usinger's hot dogs with them.

( I am also thankful huricane season is over.)

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Cheers to that!

[Susan in FL]

Cassoulet

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But of course!

[Carlovski]

On Saturday I had some grilled pork chops I had marinated in Evoo, herbs de provence, sherry vinegar and garlic. I had them on a bed of Butter Beans cooked with a little diced chorizo (Double pork goodsness!) and it's rendered fat. Slight variation on something I normally do with lamb - but good with pork too.

[Jensen]

I've been making "pork and beans" using a smoked ham shank and white beans. I saute some onions and garlic, add the prepared beans, the ham shank, chicken broth, and roasted tomatoes if I have them, tinned tomato chunks if I don't. I season it with herbes de Provence and then put it in the oven for a very long time.

Before serving, I take the meat of the bone and shred it.

Yum!

[Kevin72]

I did pasta e fagiole a few weeks back using Borlotti beans and pancetta, and home-made, wide-cut pasta. Also the deli guy at a store I frequent here gave me at no charge the rind from a prosciutto so I used that in the soup (removing it when I was done cooking). It gave the soup a viscous quality and porky flavor that the pancetta alone would never have been able to do. It was the first thing I've made since my trip to Italy a year ago where when I smelled it I immediately thought of Italy. Unfortunately the deli guy is no longer there and when I asked one of the newbies there if I could have more he gave me a puzzled look and said they just threw that stuff away.

[ludja]

New Mexican green chile and pork stew-- with pinto beans on the side, is excellent.

thanks for sharing the idea of the bean puree w/pork chops Susan in FL-sounds like a great winter dish.

[lovebenton0]

White beans, smoked pork chop or loin, stock, onions and a good splash of apple cider and/or beer with roasted red peppers, and cinnamon basil simmered in oven or crocked.

[LJFATS]

do ya'll remember lima beans w/ ham? I had that as a kid. I hated lima beans in my 20's. now I love them. wierd.

[Susan in FL]

Mmmm.... good ideas here. Thanks, and I hope they keep coming.

[Chufi]

casserole of white beans, pumpkin, and really good pork sausages. Flavored with lots of sage (because sage goes so well with both beans and pork)

[project]

For a construction analogy, the beans of 'baked beans' can be simple versatile components from which magnificent structures can be built.

Baked beans can be simple, red, dull, soupy, and boring.

Or, just starting with something from a can (a noun), can (a verb) add some Worcestershire sauce, red pepper sauce, a little molasses, chunks of yellow globe onion, garlic, and chunks of hot dogs, bake to reduce the soupy stuff, and call it "kicked up a notch".

But, what can be done to really kick them up "notches unknown", over the top, off the charts, "manly man" food, really, REALLY bombastic, idiosyncratic, as "full flavored" as Jane Mansfield was "full figured", something a man would be proud to serve up for his turn to cook on a men's camping trip, something to totally knock their socks off (just from the immediate flavor, not the subsequent flatulence!)?

Be proud. Show off! What's your best?

Eager to have contributions from women, too, although they might understand that a man might take their beans ready to eat on the camping trip and encourage some ambiguity of attribution!

Edited for some small improvements in wording.

Edited February 14, 2006 by project (log)

[snowangel]

These are a great start. I usually add some smoked pork stock, and make sure that the bacon is as great as possible -- I get some fab bacon ends from a local butcher/smoke house. I do not soak my beans overnight first, BTW. I use a 7 quart oval LC and double the recipe.

[project]

WOW!

THANKS Snowangel!

You are putting "manly men" to shame right away!

Your recipe has bourbon. Actually, was wondering about that.

Your recipe also has smoked bacon -- I suggested hot dogs, and good smoked bacon should be MUCH better.

Your recipe has "chipotle salsa". I don't know what's in that, but I'm guessing tomatoes, bell peppers, onions along with smoked hot peppers called "chipotle"? So, the salsa would be a way to get in a variety of tasty vegetables?

And, thanks for showing how to start with dried beans instead of just "baked beans" from a can! I wasn't clear on this point!

[project]

Snowangel,

OOPS! Only now do I see in the recipe the footnote:

"** Tabasco now has a chipotle variety; whatever the brand, it must be a liquid sauce, not a chunky type salsa."

Okay. So, there is some tomato paste, but there's no bell pepper or whole tomato.

[snowangel]

Yep, it's Chipotle Tabasco, a most worthy product. These beans also freeze very well.

Use dried beans, not presoaked, and up the water a bit, and keep checking. The smoked pork stock really does add something.

The only problem I have with these is that every time I go to a bring a dish meal, everyone always wants me to make these, and I like to cook other things as well. So I usually show up with two different dishes!

[Marlene]

This is my go to recipe as well and it is awesome

[project]

Snowangel,

Now that Marlene is also saying that this is her "go to recipe", it's sounding better, still!

By "smoked pork stock", I'm supposed to get, say, a smoked pig's foot or knuckle, soften the usual suspects of onion, carrot, celery (in proportions by weight of 2:1:1) along with some garlic in cooking oil, add bay leaf, pepper corns, the pork, and water, simmer at about 180 F until the pork is about to fall apart, remove the pork, separate out the lean meat, chop and/or shread it, strain and defat the stock, add the meat to the beans, and use the stock for the liquid?

[Marlene]

I think she means make smoked pork stock from a shoulder or butt that you've recently smoked. However, until today I had no such stock around and I just use chicken or beef stock. Usually beef.

[christine007]

okay.

This has been in my husband's family for thirty plus years.

Take three cans of Campbell's baked beans, drain of the liquid.

Fry five strips of bacon till crispy down. Remove bacon, add to the fat a cup of fine chopped onion. Fry till brown.

Then in a buttered dish, add the beans, the fried onion, and the chopped bacon.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about thirty minutes, uncovered.

serve with cornbread.

[snowangel]

Marlene is correct about what I think of as smoked pork stock (actually, this last batch also had a smoked turkey carcass!), but before I smoked my own meat, I made the stock with smoke hocks. No veg, no nothing. Just smoked hocks and water. (I'm not a big fan of carrots and onions in stock; I think they can add too much of a sweet note.)

[project]

christine007,

Thanks! Yes, I, too, have concluded that common grocery store canned baked beans have too much liquid and need to be drained or, perhaps, baked uncovered.

Your family recipe is another vote for bacon, bacon fat, and browned (caramelized) onion!

Snowangel,

Thanks for the details on smoked pork stock!

Yes, since my last post, I did a Google on smoked pork and found mention of smoked pork hocks and necks. One recipe, starting with Lima beans, did say to cook the hocks slowly, separate, and include the meat with the beans.

One recipe mentioned marjoram.

[jackal10]

Heinz and plenty of butter.

If you make your own, can't do better than the Durgin Park recipe

2lbs beans

1lb salt pork

2 tbs sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 tsp dry mustard

4 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 onion

Soak and

Blanch the beans. Put eveerything in a bean pot, cover with water, cook 300F for 6 hours, stirring and topping up from time to time