Buckets of Baked Beans

Per request by my other half, I recently bought a huge bunch of his favorite collards. The trouble is, I feel like very few foods I like to make pair with collards. Then in this month's Fine Cooking, they published a recipe for homemade baked beans. Having never tried to make my own, I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, I didn't fully read that the recipe only called for one pound and so I soaked 2 lbs overnight. I had NO idea how much dried beans swelled up when soaked. What started as a reasonable amount turned into massive quantities. To make matters worse, L left for the Indy 500 two days after I made them, so I was left to eat baked beans on the side of every lunch and dinner for a week. We didn't finish them until the day after he returned! I am posting the properly halved recipe, which has been made my own through significant modification.

Smoky Southern Baked Beans

1 lb. dried pinto beans

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium sweet onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp. spicy chile powder
1 chipotle pepper in adobe, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp allspice
6 cups stock (beef might be better but I used chicken)
1 porcini boullion (see my pantry essentials)
1 Tbsp mustard
2 tsp espresso powder
1 large half smoked turkey drumstick

1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. worshestershire sauce
1/2 cup sherry
1 tsp liquid smoke

salt and pepper to taste
,
Sort through beans and remove any stones. Submerge, covering with 3 inches of water, in a large bowl and soak overnight. Drain gently.

Preheat oven to 300. In a cast iron dutch oven, saute onions in melted butter until soft. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add dry seasonings and let the spices cook until fragrant. Add the stock, boullion, mustard, espresso powder and beans, and bring to a simmer. Cover and bake about 50 minutes, until beans are mealy in texture. Add remainder of ingredients and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove turkey leg to cool. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Use a fork to pull shreds of the turkey leg off (discard skin and bone), and add these back into the pot. Serve immediately or let sit overnight and reheat.




Accompaniments:

Collard Greens (slow braise with onions, sherry, chicken broth, and the smaller half of the smoked turkey leg)

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits (I might eventually get around to posting this recipe)

Pan Fried Cornmeal Crusted Turbot

OR

Barbeque Chicken

OR

Oven Braised Ribs - I change this recipe up every time but you can find the basic one here.