Baked beans

If you like BBQ sauce, you’ll love home made baked beans. These are so delicious you’ll want them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is a great entry point for learning how good beans can be at home. These are Whipple beans from Rancho Gordo – most often baked beans are made with navy beans (which are white, because food is confusing). If you have a favourite home-made BBQ sauce recipe, that’s a great way to riff on the flavours.

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, peeled and cut into quarters

• A head of garlic, peeled and smashed

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup molasses (or maple syrup or honey if you’re feeling fancy)

• 1/4 cup tomato paste

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 or 2 bay leaves

• 1 tbsp mustard (I like grainy)

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 tbsp garlic powder

• 1/2 Tsp chili flake

• 2 tsp salt

• A lot of black pepper

Method

Soak your beans overnight, covered with 2” water, with a piece of kombu (seaweed, to remove the farts through the power of enzymes).

Remove the kombu before cooking.

Transfer the beans and soaking liquid to a large pot. Add more water so the beans are covered by at least 2”. If you missed the part about removing the kombu, remove it now. If you cook it it will become very bitter.

Bring the beans to a boil and skim off the foam (it’s just protein). Reduce to a simmer, then add everything else. If you’ve ever made your own BBQ sauce you’ll recognize the profile, and you can tweak this to your tastes.

Simmer for at least 3 hours, which can be done uncovered on the stove or in the oven at 275°F. The beans should soft and cooked all the way through, and the liquid very thick and sticky. If the liquid evaporates too quickly you can add more water.

Taste the sauce and adjust for salt, heat, sweetness (add brown sugar if sour), and acidity (more ACV if dull/flat/sweet).

Eat with toast, or make a full English, or just devour them out of the bowl like I did while writing these notes. They are addictive.