Teddy Loves Baked Beans

This is the way most of Teddy's and my days start. See her little shaved leg without the legwarmers....awwwwww.


We get up at 4:30 and I start cooking. She starts checking the floor for puppy manna. I think she found something...see the waving tail?


She looks in every nook and cranny.


Chow Chows have bad peripheral vision so she has to look extra carefully.




This ritual is performed several times a day.


Yesterday was baked bean day. I saw this recipe on another blog and just had to try it. I started by slicing a bunch of onions. I was very disappointed to find the yellow spots in the center of all the onions and had to pop them all out.


I soaked the beans overnight. I strained them and saved the liquid.


I gave the molasses a head start.


I poured a cup of very slow molasses into a bowl.


I added some dry mustard.


And a good bit of salt.


Some fresh ground pepper.


I also seared a block of salt pork on all sides. This is the step that brought Teddy in to do a kitchen inspection.


While that was searing, I added some ketchup to the molasses.


This is my new favorite product, thickened Worcestershire sauce. I added about 2 tablespoons of it.


Then I threw in some Red Hot.


And since it is freezing outside and I did not want to brave the grill, I added some bottled liquid smoke. Just a bit to add a little bit of a smokey flavor.


Then stirred it all together.


I diced up the salt pork.


Now the layering begins. First I put some beans in the pot.


Then added some of the salt pork.


Then some raw onions.


Then another layer.


All the way to the top.


Then I poured the molasses mixture over it.


It's starting to look good.


I poured the bean liquid into the molasses bowl to get every last bit of flavor.


The poured it over the beans to cover them.


The liquid should be almost to the top of the pot. It will boil over. I promise you this.


Then covered the pot and placed it in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours.



After 2 hours it looks like this. I gave it a good stir and left it in for another hour.


This is it after 3 hours. They really should be refrigerated for at least a day and then warmed up gradually in a 300 degree oven. This allows the flavors to mingle. These will be served with giant Amish hotdogs.

Comments

Diane said…
teddy is too cute with her shaved legs and bad peripheral vision! :)

uumm... can you send baked beans in the mail???
Anonymous said…
I'm speechless, these look so good I could lick my screen ; )

Also, Teddy is absolutely adorable as usual.
Love to see what you are cooking everyday, but how in the world do you and Teddy eat all of it? {kidding} LOL!

Thanks for another yummy blog post!
Unknown said…
Oh, man, those look yummy!!!
I love baked beans! But how important is the mustard? I don´t love mustard :-) :-)

Teddy is so cute :-) I have the same scen here too. There´s always one of my dogs following me when I make food :-) :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Yum, they look delicious! Looks like another winning recipe!
brokenteepee said…
Oh! I've had those Amish hot dogs! Y.U.M.M.Y!

Would you, by any chance, want some homemade ketchup?
William Bezek said…
I didn't know Le Creuset made a bean pot...I wants me one!
Suzie said…
Oooh, I'm going to have to try this version of baked beans. My whole family loves them, so this is sure to be a hit!

I haven't seen the thick Worchestershire sauce, I'll ahve to look for it! Thanks for the heads up! And I love your beanpot! One of my daughters borrowed mine, and had a kitch accident, breaking it, so now I'm in the market for a new one.

What is it about Teddy that makes me want to just pick her up (yeah, right! lol), and cuddle her. .no wonder you named her Teddy! I'll bet she got a lot of lap cuddles when she was a baby. :-)

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned you getting up at 4:30 in the morning! Maybe we aren't the only ones getting up that early! I normally get up at 5:00 when it is daylight savings time, and now, that means 4:00. So I either get up that early, or have to adjust to losing an hour when the time changes back. I'm a morning person anyway, and love that time to get things started for the day! I'll mentally send out a "good morning" to you!
Raven_Nightwind said…
All I can say is a bag of ruffles with those and I would be set.
Aubrey said…
Oh my gosh! Those look divine! YUM!

You have an adorable dog!

Coming over from SITS to give a big WELCOME!
Unknown said…
You live a charmed life I believe. I bet those beans smelled heavenly.
Stephanie Faris said…
Yum. Isn't it awful that I just get my baked beans from a can? Van Camps or whatever. I didn't know Chow Chows had bad peripheral vision.
Lucie Le Blanc said…
This is one of the traditionnal winter recipe here ;) Especially in marsh, during the maple syrup time, when we do our sugar parties ;)

Poor Teddy lolll she must fell bizare ;)
Your Chow Chow is adorable and I love the step by step pictures...I'm all about pics :) Stopping in to welcome you to SITS, it's nice to meet you!
Sharon Day said…
Yes, Teddy loves baked beans, but do baked beans love Teddy? Hee hee. That looks ridiculously nummy! I usually make them in the crockpot in the wintertime, but we're still in the darned 70s here! When it cools off again, I'm going to use that recipe! Thanks. p.s. thanks for the Teddy shots--I love that pooch!
Jennifer said…
Sure looks good! Teddy is cute as always!
That looks delicious! Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
chib said…
It is interesting to read comments from your readers..:-)
Have a nice weekend despite the bad weather there.
Bridgett said…
I love the little pot you cooked them in. I'm really beginning to think you're the only person in the world who can make a pot of beans look so scrumptious. :)

Teddy is stinkin' adorable, btw.