Baked Beans with Barbecue

If you ever have leftover barbecue meat or sausage, a good way to use it is to make baked beans with meat. This recipe uses dry beans, but you could use canned beans if you're in a hurry. I chose simple red and white beans, but any variety of beans could be used.

1/2 lb Red Beans
1/2 lb Great White Northern Beans

5-6 strips bacon
1 medium onion
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Soak 1/2 lb of red beans, and 1/2 lb Great White Northern beans in water over night, with a generous sprinkle of salt.

The next day slice 5 or 6 strips of bacon, add a little oil to a small dutch oven (I have a little Le Creuset that is wonderful for this sort of thing), and render out the fat. Don't cook the bacon until it's crispy, just cook it until it is slightly browned.

Remove the bacon, leaving the fat in the pan, and add 1 medium diced onion (yellow, white, mixture of both, doesn't matter). When the onion turns translucent, add 2-3 cloves diced garlic.

Just before the onion starts to brown, rinse the beans, and add them to the pot. Add most of a quart of chicken stock (you could use water), and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp of salt (on the edge of just right, adjust to your taste). Add back the bacon, and let it simmer for an hour.

If you have any meat, now would be the time to add it. I had 2-3 ribs and a bratwurst. Pluck the meat off the bone, slice the bratwurst, and add it to the pan.

Now it's time for the sauce.

Add 1/2 cup dark brown sugar.

Whisk together:

1 cup ketchup
1 Tbl tomato paste
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbl dijon mustard
1 Tbl Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
1-2 tsp whatever barbecue rub you have in the cupboard

Add it to the pot, stir gently. Place the pot into the oven at 300 F for 3 hours.

Sprinkle in a little tobasco, and enjoy!

Notes: Many people add green bell pepper into the mix. Some Jalapeno or Anaheim chili might good. When I barbecue, I often grill red and yellow peppers, along with skewers of white onions. I threw leftovers from these in when I added the sauce just prior to the baking step (since they were already cooked).

If you're vegetarian, just use water to cook the beans, and leave out the meat!