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.