Saturday, March 10, 2012

Mother Mabel's Baked Beans

I often post about my family traditions of hunting and fishing which were all on my  father's side. But growing up we also had traditions that were passed down from my mother's side.  And one of the biggest was our meal of baked beans that Mom always cooked for us every Saturday night, without fail. Even attending Saturday afternoon Mass wouldn't deter her. Both my parents are gone now but I am very fortunate to have a few treasured, family items that were near and dear to their hearts. Such things like a favorite fly rod, an octagon barrel hunting rifle, and my mother's bean pot.
I have no idea of how many hundreds of meals we've had from this pot but since it's Saturday I thought that it would be nice to add another one to the total..
Of course the bean pot is of no use without the beans...
I prefer pea beans but also have been known to use yellow eyes. Either one will do. Once the dry beans have been soaked over night into the pot they go and covered with warm water. Into this goes..
1/3 cup of dark molasses..
1/4 teaspoon of ginger..1 teaspoon of salt..1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Then..
A nice chunk of salt pork..the leaner the better for me as I love the tasty lean pork portion.
And all assembled you have...
a pot of beans that are ready for the oven..325 degrees for 5 or 6 hours..Now this is very important..check them often to replenish the water..nothing worse than dried out bullet beans.
About an hour before they're done add..
1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of cider vinegar (this I've been told removes the snappers)..  And again..... make sure you keep checking on the water. Even more often if the day is cloudy with rain. The weather factor can easily ruin a good evening's bean supper..There you have it..Mother Mabel's Baked Bean recipe.
Check back later to see the finished product including, what else..

Fait accompli...

6 comments:

  1. what is that glob of yellow stuff on your plate? I can smell mom's beans from here...!

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  2. It's wonderful keeping the tradition.
    The recipe sounds good, and those red dogs, good stuff.

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    1. Yes it is Brk Trt, thanks..and we were absolutely shocked on those few occasions that beans weren't Saturday's supper..

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  3. PBM, I can see I finally have a worthy competitor for a future bean baking contest! :) Looks delicious bud!

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    1. Thanks Rabid but a competition with you? I'm not sure that I want to go there...

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