Baked beans tonight

[Ellen Forradalom]

I can't find a recipe with the correct bean/liquid ratio for unsoaked beans. Is 3:1 water/beans about right?

I added bacon, a quartered onion, molasses, not enough mustard :-(, ketchup, a dash of Worcestershire, some salt in a casserole and put them in a 275 degree oven. I'll give you Bostonians a report.

[Heidi]

1. Oh, this is an _awful_ admission but

I didn't know anyone made baked beans from scratch. :blush: Ellen, if the recipe works out, would you PM me the recipe? :thumbsup:

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. That's a big if

but sure.

No one does because they're so cheap and good from the can. I'm using up ingredients we have around the house--half a bag of dried beans, some molasses, one of three open bottles of ketchup, etc.

[JVS]

*faints in the same manner as the woman in the 'All Fruit' commercial...

when the rube at the table asks "could you please pass the jelly"*

[Heidi]

19. Here's the smellin' salts.

When I lived in the US, I always bought canned baked beans and dressed them up with bacon and baked them; but baked beans aren't readily available here. :shrug:

Respectfully submitted,

Heidi, an excellent and knowledgable cook, baked-beans-from-scratch withstanding.

[JVS]

24. i was just joking around, plenty of people buy only canned beans

[no name no slogan]

3. note to self-- don't pull Ellen's finger tomorrow

but on a serious note, my mom used to make this really good seven-bean dish when I was a kid. I'll see if I can find the recipe. I know she gave it to me once...

[Ellen Forradalom]

5. Oh yes--please post

And, yes, I'll be turbocharged tomorrow.

[XNASA]

4. Don't let MrsGrumpy's hubbie have any.

A person shouldn't be allowed to consume 20 sliders and a bowl of beans in the same week.

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. One time I made a North African couscous recipe

with cabbage, garbanzos and dried fruit. Baaaaaaad idea.

[Bullwinkle925]

7. Thanks for the warning -

I shall don the appropriate equipment:

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. That's much too fancy

Plastic sheeting, scissors, and duct tape are sufficient--the Department of Homeland Security says so.

DHS directions for clean air

[Bullwinkle925]

9. how true - i must remember to take my government's advice at all

times!!


thank you

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. Particularly as regards toxic tailwinds n/t

[Strong Atheist]

10. MMMMmmmmm baked beans ....! nt.

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. With homemade cornbread and salad

Complete protein and CHEAP.

[Strong Atheist]

18. Salad is ok too;

cornbread is USUALLY not.... depends I suppose ...

but the beans sound great!

[Ellen Forradalom]

20. Mmm, now see I love cornbread

To each his own: ketchup or not; cornbread or not.

[MissMillie]

13. I'm sorry, but that has to be the sorriest recipe for baked beans

I have ever seen.

After soaking the beans, the ingredients are

1 small slab of salt pork (or fatback)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 brown sugar
2 tsp. ground mustard seed
1 pinch (and I do mean pinch) of ground clove
1 pinch (again, just a pinch) of ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper



Ketchup? in beans????? NEVER!

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. Thanks for curing me of the habit

of posting recipes. I didn't mean to touch off the Eternal Ketchup Flame War.

I'll try yours some time. I do have clove and ginger and will add a pinch of each.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. Yankee baked beans are traditionally made without ketchup

But it's typical in other parts of the country. Traditional Yankee cooking doesn't use cooked tomatoes much at all now that I think about it.

Salt pork imparts a very different flavor than bacon. Try it if you never have. Miss Millie's version is very similar to my mother's recipe -- a pinch of cloves and ginger is near the upper limit for the old Yankees.

Thanks for the thread. You have inspired me to make a batch myself.

[jpak]

33. My Maine Grandma's recipe

I pound of white beans

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons dry mustard

1 medium/large onion (just peel leave whole).

1/4 lb salt pork (or 6-8 pieces thick sliced bacon). For veggie beans, substitute ~1/4 cup not-so-virgin olive oil

sort beans and soak them in overnight in the fridge.

pour off water

add a new batch of water and simmer beans for ~1/2 hour (changing the water twice). Pour off final batch of water. They will be ready to bake when you can "blow the skins off" the beans.

*note* this step deprives the beans of their musical powers...

place drained beans in a real bean-pot. Add the rest of the ingredients with just enough water to cover the beans.

bake at 225 degrees F for 8 hours. Check every once in while and add *small* amounts of water as needed.

Believe me - it's worth the effort....

[MissMillie]

34. Yea, I forgot to mention

that you cover the beans with water, and then add more as need while they are baking.

I bake at 350, for 3 to 3.5 hours. (I like my beans intact.... not mushy)

[Gormy Cuss]

35. My apartment mate post college suggested we make baked beans

I started planning out the steps and listing ingredients and she gave me a puzzled look. She meant open a can of B & M, put it in a casserole dish, top with some brown sugar and a pat of butter and let it heat in a slow oven for about an hour. Oops!

My mother made baked beans from scratch about once a month in the winter and those suckers were in the oven by 9 am or supper would have been late.:9

[Ellen Forradalom]

37. I will try both recipes

and experiment until I reach something that is Just Right!

[auntAgonist]

15. I haven't made baked beans in ages!

Your recipe sounds good. I also put brown sugar in mine, lots of molasses and ketchup, yummy. Let us know how they turn out :)

:hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

16. I'm curious too

I adlibbed the whole thing.

[auntAgonist]

17. MOST of my recipes

are adlibbed. I just start cooking and add things. I've come up with some great dishes that way. Specialty items, ethnic foods etc are a little different. Absolutely need a recipe or at least some guidance for them :)

[skygazer]

21. What, no maple syrup?

I use about a 3:1 ratio of maple syrup to molasses myself. But then I'm a Vermonter. Hope they come out yummy! I made some last week and they may have been the best batch I ever made.

[Ellen Forradalom]

22. Oooooh, maple syrup

Not the thriftiest of ingredients, but yummy. I like to use it in my apple pies. There's just something about it.

[skygazer]

23. I use it in everything

To sweeten my banana bread, in marinades (especially for pork), on hot cereal and yes, definitely in apple pie (also pumpkin). Since I moved to California 7 years ago, I've gotten syrup by the gallon from a farm back in Vermont via mail-order. Can't live without it - I go through about 2 gallons a year.

[Deja Q]

25. One little hint:

Stay away from bonfires or other sources of radiant heat after you eat your dinner.

Or elevators, for that matter. Albeit for other reasons...

[Orsino]

26. ...and windy tomorrow! n/t

[auntAgonist]

27. so how were the beans?

curious minds need to know :)

[Ellen Forradalom]

28. OK, not spectacular.

Needed more water. Also more mustard; have to adjust ingredient proportions a bit.

[auntAgonist]

29. so not too bad !

I too have put REAL maple syrup in mine, try that. Are you using dry mustard, as in colemans hot mustard? .. that really adds a zing!


:)

[Ellen Forradalom]

31. I didn't have that

and not enough honey mustard.

[Wapsie B]

30. The magical fruit.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

[Ellen Forradalom]

36. WOW!

I didn't know that baked beans could provoke such lively discussion!

If we all lived nearby I'd proposed a DU Baked Bean Bake-off...in a well-ventilated convention center, of course!

[Kali]

38. I probably would have cooked the beans in water on top of the stove

first - the sugar in the ketchup and molasses may keep them from ever getting soft but hey its an experiment right? I would watch the moisture very carefully - are they covered? It will evaporate pretty fast in the oven.