Spicy Bourbon Baked Beans

These take a long time…a whole day! So don’t be in a hurry! They don't do well in a slow cooker either. A heavy pot or dutch oven is the only way to go!

Level: Easy

Groceries:

• 2C dried white beans, soaked over night in enough water to cover the beans
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 1/4 lb salt pork sliced, or thick sliced bacon
• 1/2-3/4C bourbon (Jack Daniels does nicely)
• 3C water
• 1C BBQ sauce (I like Bullseye hot n spicy)
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/3-1/2C fancy molasses
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to:

Pick and rinse beans.

Preheat oven to 325˚.

Place beans in a heavy duty dutch oven or bean pot, with a lid. Brown the salt pork or bacon and the onion in a frying pan, draining the fat. Deglaze the pan with bourbon. Reduce liquid for 1-2 minutes then add to the bean pot. Add 3 C water, BBQ sauce, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Liquid should just cover the beans. Stir to combine. Cover and bake for 3 hours, stirring every hour. After 3 hours, add the molasses and tomatoes, stir to combine, recover and cook for an additional 3 hours. Remove the lid and bake uncovered for the last hour, stirring to brown.

If you forget to soak the beans overnight, you can still make them by boiling for an hour, then discard and rinse before adding the other ingredients. By not reusing the boiling or soaking water, you take the ‘snap’ out of the beans…or so I’ve been told!