Buzz Savories Famous Baked Beans
Buzz Savories Baked Beans
Lily of the Valley and lilac perfume the air in my neighborhood, and I’m thinking of Memorial Day weekend and celebrating friendship, family and ancestors. In Holdrege, and so many communities in America, families decorate the ancestors’ grave sites and then meet in parks and backyards to enjoy picnics, barbecues and deck parties. We are shareing the cooking tasks, and I have been requested to bring my Le Creuset Dutch oven filled with Buzz Savories Famous Baked Beans.
The texture and flavor of Great Northern beans provide the fundamentals for the recipe, and Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard accents the layers of flavor. I serve the beans baked to a caramelized perfection in a savory, rich, tangy barbecue sauce, and I like them hot, room temperature or cold. They pack and carry with ease, and I consider the Buzz Savories Baked Beans one of life’s simple pleasures to make, serve and share.
I thank The Splendid Table for the recipe.
To accommodate vegetarians, I cook the beans as described in the recipe that follows, then divide them into two Dutch Ovens. In one, I sauté the onions in olive oil for the vegans and in the other, I sauté the onions in oil from the bacon.
The Buzz
What is honey? Honey is made by thousands of honeybees who suck nectar into a special stomach called the honey sac. They create an assembly line and regurgitate that nectar into each other’s honey sacs until it thickens into honey. The bee nearest the honeycomb then spits it into one of those tiny perfect hexagons.
(Source: Alex Beggs, NewYorker Magazine, May 2021)
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Spicy Beer Mustard
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Buzz Savories Famous Baked Beans
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or any heavy 6 qt. pot that can go into the oven.
What You'll Need:
- 1 lb. dried Great Northern beans
- 1 tsp. ground allspice
- 4 large garlic cloves coarsely chopped
- 4 medium onions chopped
- 1 lb. good-quality sliced bacon sliced into 1-inch squares
- 4 Tbs. olive oil for the vegetarians at your table
- ⅓ cup Buzz Savories Spicy Beer Mustard
- 1 lb. dark brown sugar
- ½ cup cider vinegar, or to taste
- 2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
How To Prepare:
- Cover the beans with boiling water and soak 2 hours, or cover with tap water and soak overnight, then drain.
- Place beans into an oven-proof 6-quart pot and cover with two inches of clean water.
- Stir in the allspice, 2 of the garlic cloves, and 1 of the chopped onions. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce to simmer. Cook beans until soft.
- Drain the beans, saving the liquid. Clean the pot.
- Set the pot over medium heat and add the bacon. Slowly cook until it has given off most of its fat, but the bacon is not crisp.
- Spoon off all but about 4-5 tablespoons of the fat. Stir in the rest of the onions and saute' them until soft.
- For the vegetarian preparation, separate desired proportion and spoon the beans into a heavy bottomed pot. Add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and a portion of the chopped onions. Saute' the onions until soft.
- In both pots, add the remaining garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Return the cooked beans to the pot and stir in the brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, Tabasco, and a good amount of black pepper.
- Add about 2 cups of the reserved bean liquid or enough to make a slightly soupy mixture.
- Bring to a simmer and taste for sweet-tart balance and salt.
Baking
- Bake covered in 325 degree oven for 2 hours.
- Uncover and bake another hour, or until the beans are thick and look almost glazed.
- As the beans bake, taste them and add more vinegar and other seasonings as needed. Serve hot or at room temperature. They reheat beautifully.