Boston Baked Beans
We love pork and beans, especially with hot dogs, hamburgers or really any kind of barbeque. You don't need to own an authentic ceramic bean pot, but I decided to invest in one anyway. Baking beans, in liquid with brown sugar, molasses and a few other aromatics for several hours yields really flavorful beans that are firm, yet tender-- that is, they don't disintegrate into mushy beans which can happen if they are simmered too long over the stove. This recipe comes from Martha Stewart, with a few minor tweaks. This will be my new "go to" recipe for Boston Baked Beans-- or in my case "Pork and Beans", since I live in California!
Servings 8
Ingredients
- 2 pounds dried pinto or navy beans I recommend navy beans
- 1 large onion about 1-pound, peeled, halved and sliced
- 4 canned plum tomatoes seeded and crushed (I used fresh roma tomatoes, sliced in half)
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 12 whole cloves I recommend reducing to 8, as the cloves almost overpowered the flavor
- 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar packed (increase to 3/4 if you like sweeter beans)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse salt plus more for serving
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more for serving
- 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
- 12 ounces salt pork sliced
Instructions
- Soak beans in cold water to cover overnight in a large bowl. Drain in a colander.
- Heat oven to 300°F.
- Arrange onions in the bottom of a bean pot or Dutch oven. Top, working in order, beginning with tomatoes, and continuing with bay leaves, dry mustard, cloves, brown sugar, and salt and pepper.
- Add soaked beans and pour over molasses.
- Top evenly with salt pork. Add 5 cups water and cover. (Note: I couldn't fit 5 cups of water into my bean pot. 3 hours later, I was able to add another 1/2 cup, which worked out just fine.)
- Transfer to oven and bake (I'm glad I set my bean pot on a baking sheet, as the water did ooze out of the top), without stirring, until the beans are tender and the liquid has thickened, about 6 hours. Check the beans every 45 minutes, adding hot water, if necessary, to keep beans slightly soupy at all times.
- Note: After 5 hours, I felt the beans were a little too soupy. I returned the beans to the oven, without the lid. The beans, and sauce, became darker and more thickened. I was very happy with that result.
- Remove from oven, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary, before serving.
Notes
Tasting notes: Loved these beans! I will make them again, but just a bit more brown sugar and decrease the cloves. Then, they will be perfect!
Recipe source: Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart