Friday, May 21, 2010

MAPLE-BACON BAKED BEANS FOR A CROWD

For a casual gathering, nothing beats baked beans as a side dish.  These are a little spicy, a little sweet, a little tangy and just downright good.  If you don’t like the  bacon strips on top, just leave them out.  I’m even giving you the quantities for a smaller batch that will serve 5-7 people, so there’s no excuse not to make these.  And remember, you can freeze leftovers.  baked beans (5)
QUESTION:  Do you have a favorite recipe for baked beans?


Baked Beans for a Crowd
Source:  Judy’s Kitchen
Rating:  10 out of 10
PRINTABLE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:  3 (28-oz.) cans Bush’s Vegetarian beans (total of 84 oz.)
5 oz. chopped bacon, cooked till crisp and drained (reserve 2 Tbsp. bacon fat)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1 Tbsp. California hot sauce (or other hot sauce of choice)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, Grade A Amber
optional:  8-9 slices of bacon, cooked till barely crisp (about 5-6 oz.)

Heat oven to 400F.  Open cans and remove 2 Tbsp. sauce from each (total of 6 Tbsp. sauce); discard.  Pour beans into a 10” x 14” x 2-1/2” Pyrex baking pan (or another pan of similar size).  In medium skillet, using medium heat, sauté onion, garlic and green pepper in reserved bacon fat (or in butter or oil, if preferred) for about 6-7 minutes, or till vegetables are wilted and beginning to brown.  Off heat.  Stir in ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, maple syrup and chopped cooked bacon.  Stir into beans.  Cover with foil; bake 1/2 hour.  Remove foil; stir beans.  Reduce heat to 350F.  Bake 20 minutes.  Stir beans again.  Optional:  top with cooked bacon strips.  Bake about 10 more minutes.  Let beans rest for 15 minutes before serving.  (These are good hot, warm or room temperature.)  Yield:  15-21 servings
judys baked beans 
1/3 Recipe, or Beans for 5-7

INGREDIENTS:  1 (28 oz.) can Bush’s Vegetarian Baked Beans
1.66 oz. chopped cooked bacon, drained (about 2 strips)
1/3 of a medium sweet onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, minced
3 Tbsp. diced green pepper
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. California hot sauce
1 tsp. spicy brown mustard
3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
Optional:  3 bacon strips, cooked till barely crisp (reserve 2 tsp. fat)

Follow directions above.  Bake in a 1-1/2 quart baking pan. 

9 comments:

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I definitely wouldn't leave the bacon out. Bacon makes everything better. This would be great for a potluck get together.

As for the answer to my favorite recipe, I don't make baked beans very often, although they're perfect with BBQ and slaw. I usually use a combination of three different beans and the remainder of the recipe is similar to yours. I'll give your's a try next time.

Glad you're back. I've missed you.
Sam

Valerie Gamine said...

Hi Judy,
Despite the Bostonian in me, I'm not a huge fan of baked beans. But they are the harbinger of Summer. This recipe actually sounds quite delicious compared with the canned variety that I'm used to. :)

teresa said...

i love baked beans, these look wonderful!

♥peachkins♥ said...

This looks like the perfect side dish!

blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things

Von said...

I've never had baked beans before, but this looks so delicious, I'd like to make these one day! Thanks for the recipe =]

Juliana said...

Judy, I never made baked bean from scratch...your sure looks so tasty, creamy...yummie!

Judy said...

Juliana, these are not from scratch, they're just "doctored" canned beans to add some fresh zippy flavor.

Anonymous said...

I just made it and they were wonderful. They were just a tad to sweet but other than that they were really good.

Judy said...

Anonymous, thanks for your feedback. So glad they worked for you.