baked beans

A fairly luxurious morning. I woke early to the smell of baked beans but stayed in bed and had good stretching and smelling. This is my second batch of beans and I have to say they make a tremendously good breakfast dish. While the preparation is somewhat rigourous and spans up to 36 hours, the results are instant breakfast for the rest of the week and a guaranteed friend-winner.

The first batch drove me insane at 3:00 am as it was baking last week. I'd never experienced such a rich and complex cooking smell and it affected my sleep in delicious, unexpected ways.

Last night the aroma was a little more comforting than alarming and I didn't feel I had to get up in the middle of the night to check on them as they were cooking since I knew the oven was slow and was confident the beans wouldn't burn.

I use two cups of dry pinto beans and I soak them overnight in water. My room mate suggests the soaking water be changed a few times during the process to reduce gaseous output, but that does involve a bit more vigilance on Day 1 and if they're soaking overnight and during the workday, it's hardly possible and I view it as optional.

Day 2 is the fun part. I give the soaked beans a good couple of rinses and put them on the stovetop to cook in my special cast iron pot adding water as it steams off. I always keep the beans covered with water and cook them at the simmering point for at least a few hours, until the skin is coming off just a tiny bit. Once the beans are at this point, I rinse them a few times and set them aside in the cast iron pot (incidentally, this pot has a sturdy wooden handle and a cast iron top - perfect for the baking stage).

Meanwhile, actually during the last hour of stovetop cooking, I prep by finely chopping a large white onion, a large green bell pepper, a few tomatoes and whatever other vegetable I think would be tasty. (Last night I used zucchini and summer squash instead of green bell pepper and tomato paste instead of fresh tomato). I saute this chopped veg in some grapeseed oil until there's a browning effect. Add this concoction to the set aside beans.

I also set a kettle of water to boil during this time in order to pour a cup of it into a bowl containing 1/2 cup molasses, 1/2 cup vinegar (red wine, apple cider, malt, white, whatever you want it to be), a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of chili powder. Mixing well so the molasses is dissolved, I pour it over the beans and give the works a good stir. Then I pop the lid on and throw the pot in the oven at 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 to 8 hours. Good with bannock and butter.