Boston Baked Beans - a classic
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
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Boston Baked Beans
It must have been over twenty years since I had made this crockpot dish and all I could find was a basic recipe or two. The one had no tomato in it (which went against my memory of it) and the other used sun dried tomatoes which I knew was not at all within traditional bounds. The following is the result of my own attempts to capture
something enjoyed from visits to the USA. It went over very well with my summer party guests!
makes two small crockpots (each 2 litre)
bake at 120°c.
500 g. navy beans or other small white bean
2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 t. ground pepper
2 t. salt
1/8 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. ground clove
4-5 med. onions, chopped
70 g. brown sugar
120-150 g. molassess or treacle
3 T. cider or malt vinegar or pickle juice
1 t. Worcestershire Sauce
500 ml. canned chopped tomatoes*
3 heaping T. tomato puree
250 g. salt pork or fatty bacon bits
a few rashers of bacon
Wash and pick over beans. Cover to a hand’s width with water and soak overnight.
If all the water has been adsorbed, add 1/2 l. of water, all the ingredients except the pork,
onions and salt. Simmer half covered about 1 hour or so. Heat the oven hot (+- 200°c). Add the salt and stir well. (Cooking beans with salt from the beginning will toughen them.)
Place 1/4 of the pork or bacon bits on the bottom of the crockpot, fill to half with the beans. Grate more pepper generously over this, another 1/4 of the pork, more beans, pepper and lay a rasher of bacon on top. Cover and repeat for second pot. Place in the hot oven and lower heat to 120°. Bake for 5-6 hours. Uncover the last half hour. Beans should be saucy and sweet/spicy but not a soup consistency.
*Note: I have used 660 g. of stewed tomatoes, puréed them, then added enough water to make 750 ml. However, I find I prefer the chopped tomatoes. This recipe used only 500 ml. as there was sufficient water in the beans.
Traditionally served as a side dish to barbecue meats, but also goes well with roasted vegetables and a variety of cold salads.