Well to go along with the pulled pork I made on Sunday, I wanted to make some baked beans. I am not a big fan of the ones in the cans. They aren’t bad, and Michelle likes them and asks for them, but to me they always have a tinny taste to them and they aren’t my favorite. I looked around for a few recipes and found this one and it was perfect since it wouldn’t take up any space on the stove by using the slow cooker. A quick word of warning about this recipe – it makes a large amount of beans, meant to serve 10 to 12 people, so unless you’re having a big group, you might want to cut the recipe in half. I made the whole batch and ended up freezing some of the leftovers for another day.

Slow-Cooker Barbecued Beans

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

3 onions, chopped medium

Salt

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/4 cups barbecue sauce

2 pounds dried small white beans (I used Navy beans), picked over, rinsed and soaked overnight

8 slices bacon, chopped fine

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

6 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

1/2 cup strong black coffee (optional)

Pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds. Stir in 1 cup of the barbecue sauce, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer, then pour slowly into the slow cooker.

Drain the beans. Add the beans, bacon, brown sugar and then the boiling water to the slow cooker. Cover and cook, on either low or high, until the beans are quite soft, 9 to 10 hours on low or 7 to 8 hours on high. Before serving, stir in the mustard, coffee (if using) and remaining 1/4 cup of the barbecue sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Any store-bought  or homemade barbecue sauce will work for this; use what you like best. We used Sweet Baby Ray’s and it turned out great. To me, the beans were even better a couple of days letter after they have had a chance to set and solidify a bit in the fridge. They had absorbed all the flavors by then and tasted better than anything from the can. And I know it says the coffee is optional here, and if you can’t have it by all means don’t add it, but I think it does make a difference in the flavor and the color of the dish.

So tomorrow we get another piece of the meal that is a family favorite around here: German Potato Salad. Check back for that one, because it’s a good one. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here, at my Facebook page or on Twitter or you can email me at IguanaFlats@msn.com. Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!