Alton Brown's Baked Beans

Be sure to check out the latest recipe share - using ingredients from local vendors from Pembroke Farmers Market President, Meghan Watts!

I originally made this recipe for my father-in-law, and he kept saying how much he loved

it and could never go back to eating canned baked beans again. I saw that as reason

enough to make them again for a 4th of July cookout, and it seemed everyone else

agreed that this recipe tastes as delicious as it smells while it’s cooking!

I used regular bacon from Dias and Daughters for my first batch, and for my second batch, I decided to experiment with bacon ends (also from Dias and Daughters) to make the meat stand out more prominently among the beans. The taste is the same either way, so whichever you choose, this recipe will not disappoint!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried Great Northern beans

• ½ pound bacon chopped

• 1 onion chopped

• 2 jalapenos chopped

• ¼ cup tomato paste

• ¼ cup dark brown sugar

• ¼ cup molasses

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Instructions:

• Soak the beans overnight. I make sure to fill the bowl with enough water to allow for the

  beans to expand. This turns out to be about 1 inch of water over the beans.

• The next day you chop the bacon, dice the jalapenos and onions and add them to your pan.

• Note, Alton Brown recommends a cast iron dutch oven. I don't have a cast iron dutch

  oven but I do have a 4 qt cast iron skillet. I used this and it turned out just fine. This

  baked bean recipe would also work well in a crock pot as long as you do the initial

  sautéing in a regular frying pan.

• Over medium heat, sauté the onions, jalapenos and bacon until the onions are soft (about 5-8 min).

• After the onions are soft, add the tomato paste, brown sugar and molasses to the skillet.

• Stir this around for a little bit and then strain the beans and add them to the skillet.

• Save the water the beans were soaking in and then add 4 cups of this water to the skillet. It may seem like a lot of liquid but all this liquid will reduce by quite a bit during e cooking.

• Add the cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper and bring this to a boil over high heat.

• Once the beans are boiling, cover the skillet and place it in a preheated 250 degree oven for about 6-8 hours

The original recipe can be found here, enjoy! - https://grilling24x7.com/alton-browns-baked-beans