RE: [veg_grp]Review: Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans

[Guest guest]

This recipe turned out great. I used less brown sugar and less molasses,

I also substituted veggie Worcestershire instead of liquid smoke. I finally

got to use my mother’s bean pot that she always cooked her Boston Baked

Beans in every Sat when I was growing up! After my mother died, I carried

that bean pot on my lap for the whole flight home. Jane

 

..

 

Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans

 

2 pounds white beans (northern or navy beans)

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar (optional, if you like your beans sweet)

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

 

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of tap water. Or, you can bring them to a

boil on the stove and then turn them off; cover them and let them sit for an

hour or two. The point of this is to reconstitute them some, making them

easier to cook.

 

After the initial preparation, boil your beans on the back of the stove for

about 30 to 45 minutes. They won't be perfectly soft, but they will be

almost soft. Drain off the cooking water. In a very large casserole (4

quart) combine the semi-cooked beans, salt, dry mustard, molasses, sugar,

onion, olive oil and liquid smoke to taste. Add enough hot water to barely

come to the top of the beans. Put a lid on the casserole, or tin foil. Bake

the beans at 300° for about 5 to 7 hours. They will be tender, fragrant and

delicious. The cooked beans may be frozen in 2-cup portions to substitute

for canned baked beans in any recipe. They make a good main dish, or a side

dish for a large crowd. This recipe serves about 16. I make such a large

amount so I can have plenty of leftovers to freeze.

 

Another way to cook this, good in the summertime, is to use a crock pot.

Boil the soaked beans for 30 minutes, as directed above. Then, instead of

combining everything in a casserole, combine them in the crock pot instead.

Put the lid on the Crock Pot after you've mixed everything up in it, and

cook it on High for about 3 or 4 hours, or on low for 8 to 10 hours. You can

position a folded dish towel on top of the lid if your crock pot doesn't get

quite hot enough to cook beans normally. The dish towel helps maintain a

temperature hot enough to just barely simmer the beans.

..__

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

" After my mother died, I carried that bean pot on my lap for the whole flight

home. Jane "

 

 

I would have done the same.

 

Dena