I fucking love these. They’re beans but they actually taste good, instead of like something you take just to be polite. This is adapted heavily from Alton Brown’s recipe. He’s good on technique, but I find his recipes lack seasoning. So I kicked it way up.
If you don’t like heat, when you go to prepare the jalapenos, slice them in half and scrape out the seeds and white parts. It’s not all that spicy anyway, but it definitely has a little heat.
This takes a loooooong time to cook. Something like seven hours in the oven. So be aware. So be aware.
Ingredients
1 pound dried Great Northern Beans
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2-3 jalapenos, sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup tomato paste
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon chipotle powder
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon of your favorite BBQ rub
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 teaspoon table salt
Directions
First, take your beans. Put them in something you can cover and add just enough cold water to the container to cover them. Cover it and let sit overnight.
The next day, drain the beans, reserving the liquid. In a measuring cup, add the tomato paste, the stock, and then enough bean water to bring it up to 4 cups total. If you don’t have enough bean water, you can use more stock. Set aside.
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 250 (not a typo, this is a low-and-slow cooking style).
Place a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat and saute the onions, bacon, garlic, and jalapeno until the bacon fat starts to render off and the onions soften, 5-10 minutes.
Add EVERYTHING else to the pot, the beans, liquid, and seasonings, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. If using a dutch oven, go ahead and put it in the oven. If you’re using something else, you can transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and cover it with foil. Either way, go ahead and pop that sucker in the oven and bake for 6-8 hours until the beans are fully cooked, stirring about once an hour.
eatbensmeat 