Baked Beans
Making baked beans from scratch may take a bit of time, but there's nothing difficult about the process and the finished baked beans will put the canned variety to shame.
Servings 4 small portions
Ingredients
- 210 grams dried navy beans (about 1 cup)
- 100 grams slab bacon (cut into ⅓-inch cubes)
- 150 grams onion (1 small onion, finely minced)
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 75 grams dark brown sugar (about ⅓ cup)
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- ⅔ cup tomato juice
- 1 ⅓ cups water
- 5 whole cloves
- salt (to taste)
- ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (to taste)
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the beans and add them to a bowl along with enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Cover and let the beans rehydrate overnight.
- The next day, add the bacon to a dutch oven in a single layer and fry over medium heat until it has browned on one side and then flip the pieces over and brown the other side. You don't need to crisp the bacon.
- Add the onions and sauté until tender and brown.
- Add the bourbon, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Drain the soaked beans and add them in along with the brown sugar, mustard, tomato juice, water and cloves.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and then turn down the heat to low, cover and cook for 3 hours. Stir the beans periodically and add some water if the mixture gets too thick.
- When the beans are very tender, salt and pepper to taste and then add the cider vinegar.