Baked Beans: A Failure
I've often been amazed, walking down the aisle in the grocery store, at how cheap dried beans are. It seems, in terms of protein for your buck, they can't be beat. This persistent notion has led to me accumulating many bags of beans in my cupboard, always with the thought that I'll make soup or cassoulet or something someday.
I finally decided to take action this weekend. I cleaned and soaked a package of navy beans on Saturday, with the objective that, on Sunday, I'd make a more wholesome and much cheaper version of the baked beans I'm wont to buy by the can. On Sunday, I dumped the soaked beans into a casserole dish, chopped up an onion and some bacon, threw in molasses, tomato paste, a touch of vinegar and some beer (all according to the directives I'd found in the Joy of Cooking) and placed the mixture into a 250 degree oven.
I stirred the beans once an hour all through the day, but grew increasingly concerned at their loud clanking against the side of the dish each time I moved them around. In the end, I let them bake for ten hours (an hour longer than the Joy of Cooking advised).
When I sat down to eat, very hungry, at ten o'clock, I confirmed my fear that something, somehow had gone wrong. My baked beans tasted like burnt little bullets. I think if I try again, I'll boil them for a while after I soak them, but any additional advice would be welcome.
I finally decided to take action this weekend. I cleaned and soaked a package of navy beans on Saturday, with the objective that, on Sunday, I'd make a more wholesome and much cheaper version of the baked beans I'm wont to buy by the can. On Sunday, I dumped the soaked beans into a casserole dish, chopped up an onion and some bacon, threw in molasses, tomato paste, a touch of vinegar and some beer (all according to the directives I'd found in the Joy of Cooking) and placed the mixture into a 250 degree oven.
I stirred the beans once an hour all through the day, but grew increasingly concerned at their loud clanking against the side of the dish each time I moved them around. In the end, I let them bake for ten hours (an hour longer than the Joy of Cooking advised).
When I sat down to eat, very hungry, at ten o'clock, I confirmed my fear that something, somehow had gone wrong. My baked beans tasted like burnt little bullets. I think if I try again, I'll boil them for a while after I soak them, but any additional advice would be welcome.
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