Margaret Lefevers Wonderful Baked Beans Recipes

OLD FASHIONED FRENCH CANADIAN BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Cover beans with water and soak overnight.
• Rinse beans then bring to a boil in approximately 1 quart of water, bay leaf and garlic - simmer for 30 minutes.
• Turn off heat and let beans stand for approximately 1 1/2 hours until soft. Drain and reserve the bean liquid. Discard bay leaf and garlic.
• Mix together remaining ingredients (excluding beans and bacon).
• Add beans to bean pot (or any covered dish).
• Stir in molasses mixture to beans. Top off with some of the reserved bean liquid.
• Arrange bacon on top.
• Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 7 hours. For the final hour of cooking, remove cover to let bean brown up nicely.
• Note: check occasionally and keep beans covered with reserved bean liquid during cooking.

OLD-FASHIONED BEAN POT BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• Rinse beans and pick them over. Put beans in a large plastic container with three times as much water as beans. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Drain beans. Combine beans and chopped onion in a large saucepan. Add water to cover them and heat to boiling. Cover and let simmer about 30 minutes. Drain liquid into a small bowl to reserve for sauce and for cooking.
• Measure 1/2 cup of the bean liquid into a bowl. Add the orange juice, molasses, maple syrup, ketchup, and prepared mustard. Then add the brown sugar, stirring to dissolve. Lastly, add the dry mustard and salt and combine.
• In a 2-quart bean crock or covered baking dish layer half the salt pork and all of the beans, making sure to bury the peeled, whole onion in the bottom. Pour the sauce mixture over beans and add just enough reserved bean liquid to cover them. Top with remaining salt pork.
• Bake, covered, at 300 degrees for 4 hours, checking on the hour. If beans seem too dry, add a little of the remaining bean liquid. Uncover and then bake for one hour more.

THE BEST (AND EASIEST) BAKED BEANS EVER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• In a large Dutch oven, combine the baked beans, onion, bell pepper, and the bacon. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire, vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic powder and salt. Add cayenne if using.
• Cover and bake for one hour in the oven.
• You can uncover the second 1/2 hour if you like your beans on the thick side.
• I have also made these in the crock pot on high for 2-3 hours depending on how thick you like them.

BAKED BEANS FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the navy beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse before using.
• Place the beans in a large saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Stir the ketchup, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and chili powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
• Once the beans have simmered for 1 hour, drain, and reserve the cooking liquid. Pour the beans into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and stir in the chopped onion and the molasses sauce. Stir in enough of the reserved cooking liquid so the sauce covers the beans by 1/4 inch.
• Cover, and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C), and cook 6 hours longer. Stir the beans after they have cooked for 3 hours. Once the beans are tender and the sauce has reduced and is sticky, remove from the oven, stir, recover, and allow to stand 15 minutes before serving.