Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Homemade Pork & Beans

By: The Food Hunter

Summer is officially here and with that comes lots of opportunities to dine outdoors. Growing-up I could always count on my mom making hot dogs and baked beans whenever we had a cook-out. Though I haven't had them in years there is something comforting about the combination of sweetened beans mixed with pork. With that in mind I decided I would recreate this childhood memory for this month's Progressive Eats cook-out themed dinner.

For those that don't know Progressive Eats is a group of talented food bloggers that all agree to post a specific part of a meal on the same day; a virtual version of a progressive dinner where people travel from house to house to share in different courses of a meal. Be sure to scroll down for all the amazing recipes being featured this month.


Homemade Pork & Beans

1 pound dry navy beans, soaked overnight
3 slices bacon, chopped into bite size piences
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1-2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, or water
for serving:
salt & pepper

Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and onion. Cook until the onion becomes translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Combine the brown sugar, vinegar, molasses, Dijon, and  paprika.  Add to the skillet and cook stirring until sugar dissolves.

Strain the beans and add them to the pan. Pour in 1 cup chicken stock or water. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Place the skillet in the oven and cover. Bake for 2 hours, until beans soak up the liquid. If the beans are still hard add more stock or water and continue cooking. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Cookout Recipes!

Appetizers

Main Course

Side Dishes

Desserts

6 comments:

  1. Perfect picnic fare! My hubby always buys a can of baked beans when I leave town. I think it's high time I treat him. Your recipe will be perfect!

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  2. Nothing better than hot dogs and baked beans on a nice picnic. Gorgeous recipe!

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  3. Now I'm craving a big old pot of baked beans! Yours have all the flavors that I love and I'm sure they will be a huge hit at our next BBQ. Truly the best side dish for any outdoor gathering, yum!

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  4. I just made homemade baked beans for the first time a couple of weeks ago. So delicious and so easy--I may never go back to the canned kind! I love the traditional molasses in your recipe!

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  5. I'm not sure I've ever made pork and beans starting with dry beans. Now that must change! I do know that I always doctor the ones I do use with ingredients similar to yours. My neighbors think I'm a genius that my beans always taste so good. Let's let them continue thinking that but you and I know that some simple pantry ingredients plus the miracle of bacon can change anything from everyday to amazing!

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  6. I'm a huge baked bean fan (coming from good Boston stock on my dad's side), so it's just a hop skip and a jump from that picnic favorite to this one. Can't wait to dry it.

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