The Outdoor Eating Season has begun. It’s time for cooks to dust off their favorite sidekick recipes, dishes that travel gracefully from kitchen to picnic table, yet stand up to a platter of grilled ribs, chicken and burgers.
So what better time to examine one of our nation’s classic comfort foods: baked beans.
For many, beans are synonymous with New England. But the navy bean, which everyone associates with that region of the country, actually came via the Pacific shores, at the time of the California Gold Rush.
They were packed on ships and taken along because they could last the long journey around the South American continent in the holds of the clipper ships. The original beans of the early colonists were a type of lima bean called scarlet runner.
One of the hearty main dishes of our nation’s colonists was Boston baked beans. But the dish was actually popular throughout all of the colonies.
Since baked beans could be made a day ahead, this dish was a favorite with those whose religion restricted work on the Sabbath. Often it was served fresh for Saturday night supper, and then warm or cold for Sunday.
As the West was opened to trade and transport, beans went along for the ride.
No range cook would dream of hitting the trail without a good supply of dried beans. In fact, mealtime was often referred to as “bean time.”
Some cooks placed their beans over a slow fire to cook up to five hours. Others buried the bucket of beans in a hole with hot embers. Everyone in camp, from cook to cowboy, would tend the fire throughout the day.
I would guess that most families have a standard baked beans offering that has survived from generation to generation. In ours, it’s Grandma Roberts’ baked beans. As you’ll see from the recipe below, it’s a very simple preparation.
LEAH ROBERTS’ BEAN RECIPE
1 pound small white beans (soaked and cooked as directed below)
1 pound ground beef
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 medium onions, sliced
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
Brown sugar
When the beans are tender, saute the ground beef in a skillet until browned. Add the beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Layer 1 inch of beans in a deep casserole. Sprinkle with brown sugar (Grandma Roberts and my father use about 3 tablespoons, but if you don’t want too sweet a baked bean dish, I’d recommend about 1 tablespoon), and half the sliced onions. Repeat the layer of beans, sugar and onions and finish with a final layer of beans and brown sugar on top.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until bubbly and browned on top, about 30 minutes.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
To soak and cook beans: For a quick soak method, wash the beans and place them in a pot with water (equal portions), bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and soak for at least 1 hour, but more like 4 hours if you can spare it. Drain and rinse.
To cook, add 3 cups of fresh water to each cup of drained and rinsed beans. Partially cover the pot, bring the water to a boil and simmer until the beans are very tender.
In fact, make sure that they are as tender as you want them to be, because once you begin adding high acid ingredients, like tomatoes, they’ll lose their ability to get more tender than they are at this very moment. It just won’t happen.
The cooking stage takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the beans.
COWBOY BEANS
1 pound dry pinto beans (2 cups)
7 cups cold water
2 pounds smoked ham hock
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
2 tablespoons sugar
Cook and soak the beans as described below. Do not drain after soaking.
Add ham hocks and onion to the pot. Cover, then cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the ham hocks. Remove meat from the bones when cool enough to handle; dice.
Discard the bones and return the meat to the beans. Stir in the tomato paste, chile peppers and sugar. Cover and continue cooking until the beans are tender, about 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
Add additional water, if needed to keep the beans from scorching.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
To soak and cook beans: For a quick soak method, wash the beans and place them in a pot with water (equal portions), bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and soak for at least 1 hour, but more like 4 hours if you can spare it. Drain and rinse.
To cook, add 3 cups of fresh water to each cup of drained and rinsed beans. Partially cover the pot, bring the water to a boil and simmer until the beans are very tender.
In fact, make sure that they are as tender as you want them to be, because once you begin adding high acid ingredients, like tomatoes, they’ll lose their ability to get more tender than they are at this very moment. It just won’t happen.
The cooking stage takes anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the beans.
Recipe adapted from “Better Homes and Gardens Heritage Cookbook,” by the editors of Better Homes and Gardens
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.
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