Baked Beans - the 'real McCoy'?
@owlwings (43897)
Cambridge, England
November 15, 2016 6:35am CST
I suppose everyone is familiar with Mr Heinz's Baked Beans [in Tomato Sauce]. They are so familiar that many people don't realise that beans can be - and originally were - cooked without any tomato at all.
I have wanted to cook the traditional and classic Boston Baked Beans for a long time but have always been thwarted by my inability to find the small, white bean which is used in the tinned baked beans. The other day I found something which approximates to it (but is still a little longer and larger) and decided to tackle the project.
The recipe I have calls for white beans (Navy Beans or Great Northern), salt pork, onion, molasses, brown sugar, ground cloves and Dijon mustard all stewed together at a very low temperature for about 8 hours. I had collected everything except the salt pork but I have used belly pork instead and added salt, pepper and bay leaf to the mix. It is now sitting there in the slow cooker and (hopefully) will be ready for supper tonight!
I am looking forward to tasting the 'real McCoy'. I'm sure that it will either be delicious or horrible (in which case I shall have to try to devise a way of using it us!) but I don't know whether it will taste anything much like the Baked Beans as served in Boston (Massachusets). With so much molasses (black treacle) and sugar, it will taste quite sweet, I believe, but then it also has quite a quantity of salt to temper it.
Has anyone here made or tasted Boston Baked Beans or what other, quite different, ways do you have of slow-cooking white beans?
13 people like this
10 responses
@crossbones27 (52907)
• Mojave, California
15 Nov 16
Just canned and they are so good. You know they say everyone could live to over a 100 if they ate beans and rice with a carrot or apple mixed in. The city next to me has some of the oldest people on earth living in it. Swear to know one but everyone, it is true look up Loma Linda California and what they eat. I think your endeavor will turn out great
2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
15 Nov 16
When you say 'canned', do you mean that you can get Boston Baked Beans in cans? I wish I could find them here! Actually, I have searched online and I can't find anyone who sells cans of the real stuff.
I agree that beans, peas and lentils are all very healthy food. I love them in all the ways I've tried them (I'm especially fond of Tarka Dhal, which is made from yellow split peas and red lentils with cumin and some chili, depending on the recipe).
I could only find one reference to the diet of Loma Lindans and that attributes their longevity mainly to being vegetarian (and Seventh-Day Adventists) and eating nuts and tomatoes. I'm sure that they also eat a lot of beans but the article doesn't mention that!
In one idyllic community in southern California, Adventists live 4 to 7 years longer -- and more healthily and happily -- than the rest of the country. A look at their diet, lifestyle, and philosophy
2 people like this
@crossbones27 (52907)
• Mojave, California
15 Nov 16
@owlwings Yeah because people are still on that health nut thing that became corporate, but cannot remember. Saw a blog from someone from Loma Linda and also knew a doctor, was drinking buddies for a while, he was retired and he told me what they eat and most was home grown, organic gardens and what not. That part of the community is rich. Religious or doctors there is money running through those veins. Canned tastes good but pretty sure GMOs or processed foods is not the same as coming from mother earth. At least they are using their money right. Tasty though. Look up B&M
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
15 Nov 16
@crossbones27 Ah! Thanks for the tip about B&M! They call them New England Baked Beans (which is logical, since I'm sure the recipe doesn't belong to Boston), so I didn't find them when I searched.
It seems that I CAN buy them from Amazon UK. In a pack of 12 cans ... for the ridiculous price of £158.72!!! That's £13 ($16.40) a can!!! I guess they must ship them back to the Old Country in the Mayflower.
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@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
24 Nov 16
KOO Baked Beans are "Africa's Favourite Brand", according to the Koo website and the Sunday Times. They seem to be very like the baked beans we buy in cans here (from Heinz, Batchelor's and many other companies) whch are in tomato sauce. I don't recall tasting any American brands but I can believe that they taste different and that is why Sutheyfricans like to import them!
The ones I made (which were very good) are different and have no tomato. The flavour comes from the molasses, onion, mustard and salt pork (or bacon). I did find that a tablespoon of Worcester sauce improved them (though it wasn't in the recipe).
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
16 Nov 16
never tried anything other than a canned of baked beans and then adding stuff, how did they turn out?
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@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
16 Nov 16
My mother always made her baked beans from scratch, by soaking the beans overnight. They were good!
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@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
15 Nov 16
I have never cared for baked beans especially in tomato sauce.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
15 Nov 16
I know some who can't stand them but every kid I know here would probably happily eat them for every meal - maybe if you do, you could easily grow out of them!
I have to say that I usually have to add chili sauce or ketchup to the insipid sauce they usually come it.
@celticeagle (189793)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Nov 16
What Navy beans? They are good. I never use tomatoes in my baked beans. Molasses and brown sugar. The longer it cooks the better it is.I don't put any salt in it either. I love onions, green pepper and a little cinnamon in mine.
