Boston Baked Beans

Last fathers day my mother-in-law called over to the house and asked my husband what we wanted to bring to the picnic.  He said "Katie will make baked beans".

Um. Hello, I've never MADE baked beans.  I think those take a while to do!  And, this phone call was literally ON Fathers Day. So, I had about two hours to come up with "homemade" baked beans.

I managed to come up with something that everyone raved about, thanks to All Recipes, and some cheating.  Everyone loved the beans so much that I felt it was only right if I actually made them the right way the next time.

So, the second time I made them was for another family get together and even though I baked those damn beans in the oven for 12 hours (after soaking them of course), they were HARD and I made a freaking mess all over my oven because you have to keep adding water and it all spattered and well, not cool.

The third time I made them was this past weekend.  Slow cooker = life saver.  They cooked for 28 HOURS!  But they were very yummy.

Here is a photo of the third batch.  Nice deep reddish brown color, just like they are supposed to look.



At the end of the day though, I kind of liked the cheat beans the best!  But, everyone raved about the last batch I made so here are the recipes for both.

Boston Baked Beans, the right way... sorta.


Ingredients:

• 2 cups navy beans, dry
• 1 pound bacon
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 8 tablespoons molasses
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:
Rinse the navy beans and remove any rocks.  No one wants to eat rocks.

Pour beans in the slow cooker and cover with water.  Let them sit overnight.

In the morning drain the beans.

Take some scissors to your raw bacon and just slice it in small chunks and toss it in the slowcooker raw along with the onions.  You can cook it before hand, but it'll cook in 28 hours, trust me and it saves cleaning dishes.

Mix the molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar in a bowl and pour over the beans.

Pour in as much water as your slow cooker will hold.

Turn the slow cooker on high for about 5 - 8 hours, then turn it on low for the rest of the time (it'll go overnight).  Cook for 24 to 28 hours, or until your beans are nice and tender.  Check the beans from time to time as you may need to add a bit more water to prevent burning - I did twice.

Boston Baked Beans, the cheaters way.


Six cans (16 ounces each) of canned navy beans, rinsed.
1 pound of cooked bacon, chopped.
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Pour your beans in a very large baking dish  Layer your bacon and onions on top.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a pot on the stove until the sugar dissolves.  Pour over the beans

Bake in the oven at 350 four about 45 minutes, or until everything is heated through.

Peppercorn Pork Loin

This one is so easy ;) We were introduced to these when we went white water rafting a few years ago. The trip included a nice dinner - they did these on the grill wrapped in foil and they were soooo yummy. When it's warm out we'll do the same. They are also good in the oven but the crock pot works great on a weekday too.

Instructions:

1. Go to supermarket

2. Buy pre-marinated peppercorn porkloin (We buy the Kroger brand from King Soopers, Hormel is nasty IMHO. Teriyaki is also good.

3. Put in crockpot, cook on low all day.

4. Come home and eat.

:)

Crock Pot Roast

We had this for dinner tonight and it was super yummy! I paired it with garlic mashed potatoes and glazed carrots. I HATE veggies cooked with the roast so this recipe was perfect for me.

1 beef roast, any kind
1 (1 1/4 oz) package dried brown gravy mix
1 (1 1/4 oz) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 (1 1/4 oz) package dried ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup water.

Place beef in crock pot.

Mix dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roas.

Pour water around roast.

Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.