BBQ Beans

In exchange for sharing this amazingly delicious recipe, I received an advance copy of Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking written by Toni Tipton-Martin. While this recipe was inspired by the cookbook, it is not an exact duplicate. So, if you would like to see the original recipe, make sure to purchase a copy of Toni Tipton-Martin’s newest cookbook. I can pretty much guarantee that you will love it and all of the mouth-watering recipes it contains. I think you’ll also enjoy the in-depth historical background included along with each recipe from this James Beard Award-winning author.

Are you ready to enjoy the best baked beans you’ve ever tasted? These barbecued beans, made using canned great northern beans, will simply knock your socks off. Yes, they’re just that good. It must have something to do with the bacon, diced onion, molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, and seasonings used to make them. You’ll never buy canned baked beans again.

Just because I love to come up with my own unique recipes, doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy a good cookbook. There’s almost nothing I enjoy more than flipping through a beautiful cookbook full of tempting recipes. Added bonus if that cookbook makes me drool as I turn each page, like Toni Tipton-Martin’s new Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking cookbook, which is being released today.

Y’all, I can’t even tell you how crazy I am about this cookbook. I mean, with recipes like Sweet Potato Biscuits with Ham, Rum Punch, Spanish Cornbread, Coffee-Scented Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine, Pork Chops with Rich Caper-Lemon Sauce, Caramel Cake, and Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, how is a girl supposed to resist? My biggest dilemma was picking just one recipe to share with y’all today.

In the end, I chose Toni’s recipe for Baked (Barbecued) Beans. Something about this recipe just spoke to me. Heck, let’s just say that it shouted to me. “Make me now, and by now, I mean right now.” The best cookbooks will do that to you. They’ll have you grabbing the car keys, walking out of the door, and driving to your local market right after getting just one tiny little glimpse of a recipe. That’s pretty much what happened with this delicious recipe.

Now, let me just warn you now, before we go any further, my recipe is nowhere near the same as Toni’s. I always make a recipe my own. If I don’t like something I leave it out, if I feel that something else would better suit my taste, I swap it in. In my kitchen, cooking is an adventure. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t. Thankfully, this time they worked out amazingly well.

So, what did I change? Well, first of all, I ditched the green bell pepper. I am just not a fan. Instead, I added more onion and more bacon. I also used less liquid smoke as well because, in general, I am not overly fond of smoky foods. And then, I replaced the yellow mustard in the recipe with dijon and whole grain dijon mustard, because as you know, I detest yellow mustard. The final change I made, was swapping in great northern beans for navy beans, simply because they were what I had in my pantry.

Nothing too drastic. The spices and seasonings are all still basically the same. A little less salt, a little more spice. And after eating these homemade baked beans, there is no way in hell I’ll ever go back to doctoring up a can of store-bought baked beans again. These beans are just so quick to throw together and well worth the little bit of effort to make them. Heck, the hardest part of the recipe, was cleaning the baking dish afterward. Next time around, I’m either using a different baking dish or lining that sucker with foil.

Ingredients:

1 Pound Extra-Thick Sliced Bacon (Divided)
1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Finely Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Molasses
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
3/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
3 (15.5-oz.) Cans Great Northern Beans with Juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Finely dice all but four slices of the extra-thick bacon. Place the diced bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is crispy and browned. Remove the diced bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and sauté them for approximately 5 minutes, or until they are translucent. Make sure to stir them occasionally to prevent them from burning.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, dijon mustard, whole grain dijon mustard, liquid smoke, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until bubbly.
Place the beans, along with their juice, into a large rectangular baking dish. Add the sauce and crispy bacon to the beans; stir well to combine.
Arrange the four remaining bacon slices over the top of the bean mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil, increase the heat to 425 degrees, and then cook the beans until the bacon slices on top of the beans are cooked through and crispy.

Suggestions:

Make sure to get your bacon nice and crispy when frying it. It adds texture and flavor to the beans.
Do not throw the liquid from the canned great northern beans away. The liquid helps to thicken up the beans as they cook. In every other recipe, I always discard the juice from canned beans and rinse them well, however, this recipe is an exception.
While the bacon strips on top of the baked beans may look pretty, they aren’t exactly practical when it comes to eating the beans. I suggest cutting the four slices of bacon into 1-inch pieces and then placing them on top of the beans.
Use a smooth-surfaced baking dish for easier cleanup. Do not make the mistake I did by picking out the prettiest one with the most crevices. Y’all, cleaning this baking dish was truly a chore. I should have just reached for my plain ol’ glass Pyrex.

Improvements:

Add even more bacon. After all, everything tastes better with more bacon. Just make sure to drain it well, so that the beans don’t become too oily.
If you like foods with a smoky flavor, add more liquid smoke. The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke.
Replace the crushed red pepper flakes in this recipe with finely diced jalapeño.

Yum

Baked Barbecued Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

1 Pound Extra-Thick Sliced Bacon (Divided)
1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Finely Diced
2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Molasses
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
3/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
3 (15.5-oz.) Cans Great Northern Beans with Juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Finely dice all but four slices of the extra-thick bacon. Place the diced bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is crispy and browned. Remove the diced bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and sauté them for approximately 5 minutes, or until they are translucent. Make sure to stir them occasionally to prevent them from burning.
Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the brown sugar, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, dijon mustard, whole grain dijon mustard, liquid smoke, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until bubbly.
Place the beans, along with their juice, into a large rectangular baking dish. Add the sauce and crispy bacon to the beans; stir well to combine.
Arrange the four remaining bacon slices over the top of the bean mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil, increase the heat to 425 degrees, and then cook the beans until the bacon slices on top of the beans are cooked through and crispy.

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