Slow Cooked Baked Beans from Scratch.

[scon]

Ok, with Winter coming up, it's time to get into the slow cooking. One of my favourite dishes is Baked Beans, not that stuff you get from a can, these are a whole different kettle of... erm... Beans. Anyhow... Here's how you make Baked Beans from scratch.

Firstly, get all your ingredients and lay them out attractively on your benchtop. Note the Paprika sitting there in that little red tin. This is La Chinata Paprika from Vera in Spain, the bittersweet variety. This stuff is strong... not spicy, but it adds an amazing smoky flavour to anything that you put it into, use it sparingly, but if anything is the 'secret ingredient' it's this... or maybe the big ass ham bone. Oh yeah, and my preference for beans is Navy Beans, soak them overnight first.

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Ok, next up, get the ham bone and throw it into a hot oven, we want to crisp that thing up nicely, and while you're doing that, chop up the vegie material.

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When that's done, the ham bone should be ready, so remove it from the oven. Damn, I was keen to just munch into that thing.

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Then throw everything into the pot, with some crushed coriander seeds. Mix thoroughly.

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Oh yeah, a can of tomatoes too... this is after about 2 hours in a 160-odd degree oven... make sure you have the ham bone in there for the whole time, it'll help give it a good 'meaty' flavour. At about this time, taste it and add a little brown sugar to sweeten, season with salt and pepper too.

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When finished (requires about 4 hours) serve on a baguette, topped with parmesan, some coriander leaves and lots of salt and pepper...

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For about $15-20 bucks, I've just made something like 8 meals. And these things taste so much better than the canned variety as I'm sure you can appreciate.

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Makes for a warmer night under the covers that night too!

[RavenKittie]

Wow! That looks pretty damn good on a cold winters day I'd imagine it would be a whole lot more filling than your standard canned variety, probably alot more nutritious too.

I saw the bowl of garlic, yep that's definetly something I'd have a crack at making

[.LiQU!D.]

Damn, that looks nice, might have to try that some time.

Originally Posted by scon

Makes for a warmer night under the covers that night too!

Hahaha

[scon]

The best thing is all the big chunks of ham all through it. If you can't get a ham bone (just ask at the deli, they often don't have them at the counter, you have to ask) see if you can get a ham hock or two... again it adds to the nice smoky flavour, but you don't need to roast the hocks before adding, just remove all the skin, shred the meat and add that to the bean mixture, bones too of course.

If you like alot of pig, feel free to get some bacon really crispy under the grill then crumble it over the top of the finished beans when serving.

P.S: My girlfriend wants me to tell you all that this is the BEST hangover food... She was stuck at work last Saturday, had a bowl of these, which sorted her out!

[scon]

I made these again... was very happy to find that I can now source those ham bones for $2 a piece... there's so much meat on 'em. I also threw in about 10 little bullet chillis which has added a nice amount of fire to the dish.

Yum!

[infernooo]

Originally Posted by scon

I made these again... was very happy to find that I can now source those ham bones for $2 a piece... there's so much meat on 'em. I also threw in about 10 little bullet chillis which has added a nice amount of fire to the dish.

Yum!

I like putting mustard and molasses in mine (Yank style I know), and if I can't get my hands on ham hocks, I just use bacon bones (roasted in the same way before putting in with the other ingredients).

The coriander, capsicum and paprika is a new twist for me, might have to try it

[death]

I know this is an old thread but I thought it would be perfect food for winter and I wanted to try proper baked beans.

I'm just starting to cook so I have some basic questions for you.

1 a . How much liquid do you add in at the stage before it goes into the oven?
1 b. I assume you used vegetable stock for the liquid? Or is it just water?
2. How many grams of beans did you start with (approx)
3. I have some black eyed peas will that do the same job? ie why is there a preference for navy beans?
4. I assume you cook with the lid on in the oven?
5. Just to clarify is that a total of 4 hours in the oven or 6?

Thanks for your help

[doug81]

subscribed to this thread so I can find it next week when I want to make this

[scon]

Originally Posted by death

I know this is an old thread but I thought it would be perfect food for winter and I wanted to try proper baked beans.

I'm just starting to cook so I have some basic questions for you.

1 a . How much liquid do you add in at the stage before it goes into the oven?
1 b. I assume you used vegetable stock for the liquid? Or is it just water?
2. How many grams of beans did you start with (approx)
3. I have some black eyed peas will that do the same job? ie why is there a preference for navy beans?
4. I assume you cook with the lid on in the oven?
5. Just to clarify is that a total of 4 hours in the oven or 6?

Thanks for your help

Ok!

1a) enough so that there's say, about 5cm of water over the top of the beans?
1b) Just water is fine - cooking it with the veggies that are in there and the ham bone turn them into a pork stock over the space of four hours anyways.
2. about 400g or so is good.
3. black eye peas should work, i use navy because they're traditional
4. yep, lid on in the oven, otherwise it'll loose too much liquid.
5. that's right, 4 hours total!

They made some dodgy version of these on masterchef... and didn't even back them! Pah! Give it a go! I hope you like it, i think it's definitely worth the effort, they freeze well and are awesome for warming you up when it's cold.

edit: oh yeah, and you must use dried beans, if you use canned, they'll turn to mush, and i've heard that soaking is not absolutely neccesary, but i still do it. If you dont soak, maybe cook for another 1/2 hour.

[bl4ck32]

yerp, won me over.

edit/ i read the post above lol

[bl4ck32]

Ok, i made this last night. I dont like canned beans, but this is a new fav

Only thing that cost me a lot was the ham bone for $12 lol

I had a large pot which isnt the square type normal pot, it actually flares out to the top, so when i added water to the mix with the bones i think i put in too much. After the 4 hours in the oven the water hadnt evaporated at all, so i threw it on top of the stove for a boil. The beans were not quite there, but the short hard boil on the stove top did the trick.

Reduced it to a nice level, and the beans cooked through great Also, i cooked it from the start with the meat on the bone, then after the 4 hours i stripped the meat, threw it in and put it all (bone as well) back in whilst it was boiling to get all that flavour

Made 3 serves, with another 5 o 6 stashed. Next time ill make a double batch

thnx scon

[scon]

$12 for the Ham Bone?! That's borderline criminal! I used to get them for about $2 (and this was only a year or two ago). You can also use things like hocks, or bacon bones.

Anyways, apart from that, I'm glad you liked it. Poles apart from normal canned beans aren't they!?!

[Ashpool]

I make mine with standard 3 or 4 bean mix and always include some worcestershire sauce as the secret ingrediant. I make it up in a big cast iron pot and then freeze it up as individual server. I then just nuke them when I whip up my big breakfasts...crispy crispy bacon, poached eggs, jalapenos, home made beans, slow roasted tomatoes, served on two slices of home made ciabatta! Awwww yeah!!!!

[death]

ok thanks for the help.

I couldn't find navy beans so I put in dried cannellini beans (I soaked them overnight)

The butcher only had really small ham hocks so I went for bacon instead. I baked the bacon (1 whole piece of about 350g) in the oven then sliced it up and put it in the pot.

The only thing at the moment is it appears that maybe I put in too much liquid in the pot as it seems more like a soup now. It has been in the oven for 3 hours now and it looks like it has a bit more liquid then your picture of 2hrs.

I assume after the 4 hours I could just reduce the liquid over a low flame?
How much liquid is there supposed to be at the end of the process?

thanks for your help so far.

P.S it smells so good now

--

I went to a few delis and couldnt find a ham bone. The supermarket had them but I don't trust supermarkets for meat. The price on the ham on the bone was around $13 a kilo so $12 seems right if you had a big one.

The ham hocks were $8 a kilo, the average size was about 1 kilo. However I have noticed that there isnt much meat on these ham hocks. Thats why I went for a big piece of bacon.
Smoked bacon bones were $11 a kilo but there was not much meat on the bones.

I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning

[bl4ck32]

Originally Posted by scon

$12 for the Ham Bone?! That's borderline criminal! I used to get them for about $2 (and this was only a year or two ago). You can also use things like hocks, or bacon bones.

Anyways, apart from that, I'm glad you liked it. Poles apart from normal canned beans aren't they!?!

Yerp, i know..damn coles only had these smoked ham bones in the meat section...was rather large though..im shopping around for next time. I have bought ham hocks in the past for $2 as well, but the smoked bone worked out great...

So much better than canned crap I had some for lunch today, and only used a couple of spoons on some toast..(i usually eat small for lunch) thatd be like 7-8 serves in the one dish i put in the fridge..total serves for the whole lot just for me then would be like 20 lol.