Barkley Spills the Beans - A Bacon Classic for Old NFO

"Let me tell you where Mom has
 the family bean recipe written down. . ."

Barkley isn't "Duke" the talking dog and "Beautiful Bean Footage" is probably trademarked, but there were some good beans rustled up this weekend at the Range, captured with a little point and shoot camera and a couple of plates.  I was going to post Tuesday night, but  Old NFO wrote to say he was wanting the recipe when I told him about it and that's a man it's hard not to do something nice for.

Beans - Baked, Barbecued, Boston, Bottylicious, Burned.  Whatever you call your favorite version of beans, they have been a staple in homemakers recipe collections and church and community cookbooks everywhere for generations.

My step mom made this great baked bean recipe which included pineapple that ended up in her Lutheran Church cookbook.    Even folks that didn't like pineapple loved it.

As good as hers was, the page from the Lutheran Church book in which it resides, bent and worn, I wanted to try to improve on it. Hers had hamburger, I was hankering for something different.  How about smoked sausage and bacon.  But not just any bacon, caramelized bacon.

I also bumped up the "savory" and "heat" in hers to give it a bit more zing, using notes from a couple other bean recipes she collected over the years and adding a touch or two of my own. The end result was uniquely this kitchen, but very familiar.

Bacon! - Mom's Baked Beans Made Better

With  help chopping the veggies, it was in the oven in 10 minutes with the additional ease of canned beans. (If you have the time, prepared dried beans maka a great low sodium alternative.)

You start with  a base of Bush beans or pork and beans from which much of the liquid is drained (to be replaced by a lot of yummy things).

Add onion, green pepper, chopped garlic, some not so secret spices and condiments that I bet YOU have in your fridge, a little smoke, a little hot.  Throw in the sliced sausage and top with half a package of bacon.

On top of the bacon, brush a mixture of tomato sauce, molasses, honey and apple cider vinegar.  You want to use just enough to lightly coat the bacon so it doesn't dry out until the sugar and heat work their magic and it gets a dark and caramelized as it cooks for an hour and a half.

 Oh yeah.    

Serve it with some cornbread  or some crisp bacon waffles and you have an easy and economical dinner.

"OK, scratch me there and I'll tell you the combination to the gun safe."