Skip to main content

Barbecued Baked Beans

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

1

pound California small white beans

1

/2 cup onions, finely chopped

1

/2 cup celery with leaves, finely chopped

1

/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1

tablespoon garlic, minced

3

tablespoons olive oil

1

16-ounce can tomato sauce or 6 large fresh tomatoes chopped and stewed for 1hour

1

/4 cup dark brown sugar

1

/4 cup thick molasses

1

tablespoon dry mustard

3

tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1

/2 teaspoon ground cloves

chicken, veal, or pork stock (optional)

2

bay leaves

1

teaspoon salt

1

teaspoon cracked black pepper

1

teaspoon fresh thyme

1

cup country cured slab bacon, diced

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Wash beans, place in large pot and cover with cool water, boil for 5 minutes,and remove from heat; let sit for 1 hour with tight lid. In cast-iron skillet, sauté onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in olive oil on a high flame for 4 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add tomato sauce, sugar, molasses, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and cloves, and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour off water from beans and replace with 3 1/2 cups (approximately) fresh cool water or meat stock. Add bay leaves, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let simmer, covered, until beans are tender. Sauté bacon cubes; drain. Drain liquid from beans and reserve. Combine beans and tomato sauce in Dutch oven or bean pot. Top with bacon and bake in 300-degree oven for 3 to 5 hours. Stir beans now and then, adding reserved liquid when needed.

Grace the Table, Alexander Smalls, HarperCollins