My mom has been making these beans for almost 40 years, tweaking my grandmother's recipe here and there and making it her own. I have not had one recipe that has even come close to tasting as good as hers. I think that's my opinion with all family recipes so I was excited to share this nostalgic dish for our book club party for Station Eleven.
Kellie had little individual jars and tin cans to serve these in and it was the perfect post-apocalyptic menu item.
The secret is the long bake time which allows all the flavors to meld together making the beans soft, creamy, and perfectly sweet and rich. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so this satisfies that craving, plus it's dairy and gluten free and rich in protein. Comfort food at it's finest!
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb bacon (chopped)
1 brown onion (chopped)
1 green bell pepper (chopped)
1 clove minced garlic
3 cans 28 oz each B & M original baked beans (Our local Smith's Utah store did not carry them so I used Bush's Original and they tasted the same)
1 Tbsp parsley
1/8 c. ketchup
1/4 c. molasses
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 c. brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fry bacon in pan until cooked through. Chop up bacon prior to frying, but if you're like me and rush your cooking to take photos before reading the directions, feel free to cut up after.
Money saving tip!
Our local supermarket has these bacon ends and pieces that are perfect for dishes like this. They are much less expensive than a regular package of bacon and they come in bulk. We use it for everything from salad toppings to Sunday morning breakfasts, and always keep some on hand in the fridge. We also love to use the leftover bacon grease to cook our vegetables in when we want a little extra flavor as this recipe recommends.
After bacon is cooked through, remove to casserole dish, saving the remaining grease to cook the onion and bell pepper.
Chop both the onion and bell pepper in a food processor. I prefer to have both chopped very fine, as you want to add flavor, not texture to the beans.
Add the vegetables to the remaining bacon grease and cook until translucent.
Add your cans of beans, vegetables, and remaining ingredients to the bacon in the casserole dish and mix thoroughly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then cook uncovered for another 4 hours at a lowered temperature of 225, mixing occasionally.
I asked if this could be thrown in the crock pot (because I'm always looking to save time/heat/money especially when it can get so hot in the kitchen during the summer), but my mom recommended sticking with baking, so that's what I did and it came out tasting exactly the way I remembered them.
That's it! It's an easy peasy, yet extremely satisfying dish that makes a good amount for a lot of people. **We had enough beans for a side dish for about 18 girls.
"Beans, beans, the musical fruit,
the more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel,
So let's eat beans with every meal!"
You can thank my husband for that one.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
xo,
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