Boston Baked Beans

Shameful Omission:  We forgot to take a final picture.  Here's a picture that looks really similar from lovefood.com.



If you recall our New Year's recipe of Black-Eyed Peas (LINK), this will be pretty similar.  It's a slow-cooking dish with simple ingredients that meld into magic.  The Boston Baked variety highlights the classic American flavors of molasses, ketchup, and brown sugar.

Here's the recipe:
1 pound Navy beans or kidney beans
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 pound salt pork
2 onions
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of ground mustard
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of paprika
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of black pepper
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Soak the beans overnight in a gigantic bowl.

Start by browning the outside of the salt pork.

I added some cumin for flavor (optional).

Chop the garlic and slice the onions.

Pull the browned salt pork, and start cooking down the onions in the pork drippings.

Chop the salt pork into 3/8" x 3/8"

Add the garlic and salt pork when the onions start to soften.

Add all of the remaining ingredients (ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire, seasonings).

Drain the beans and add them.

Fill with water to cover the beans and mix thoroughly.

Bring to a boil and simmer until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened.  You're allowed to over-cook these, compared to black-eyed peas and red beans.  It should take a couple hours.

The final product should be soft, syrupy, and flavorful.  (shame!  borrowed picture)