# Now That's Some Pork & Beans!



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jul 16, 2014)

Last night, I was in the mood for a quick and easy meal.  I purchased a pork but, bone in.  I threw it into the pressure cooker with a large, crushed clove of garlic, salt, and a large, roughly sliced onion, and 2 cups of water.  The roast was great, and I had all of this really nice broth left over, as the rest of the meal was comprised of home made Harvard beets, and VanCamp's pork & beans, doctored of course.

So, to make a long story short, I just had to make a pot of beans.  I added the bone that I had removed from the roast before cooking it just for such a purpose, 2 cups of dried navy beans, and enough water to cover by 2 inches.  I put the lid on and brought the beans up to pressure.  They cooked for 1 hour even.  Talk about great flavor, I couldn't decide whether to use them as they were, or sweeten with a bit of brown sugar.  I flipped a coin and the sweetened bean option won.  I added 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 2 tbs. molasses, and just for grins, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin.

I'm munching it right now.  It's not as sweet as most baked beans, but has a rich pork flavor, and the cumin, just makes the dish.

It's good enough that I had to share it.  Of course, if you decide to give this version of venerable baked beans a try, you have to play with it, and make it your own delicious version.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## LPBeier (Jul 16, 2014)

This sounds good Chief!  I have c&p'd it and will make it next time I have a pork roast.  That might be awhile, but will happen.


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## mmyap (Jul 16, 2014)

You  have great timing, Chief.  I have a half a bag of anazazi beans left over from last week and I wanted to use them in a different way.  I made them into a sort of red beans and shredded beef concoction.  It came out great, perhaps a little over cooked (I soaked the beans overnight.)  Loved the taste of the beans. I was thinking of going with pork version this time around and not so spicy, more of a bbq direction.  And maybe forgo the soaking overnight bit.  

Did you soak your beans at all?


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## Cheryl J (Jul 16, 2014)

Oh, does that sound good....!!  Thanks for sharing, Chief.


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## Mad Cook (Jul 17, 2014)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> Last night, I was in the mood for a quick and easy meal.  I purchased a pork but, bone in.  I threw it into the pressure cooker with a large, crushed clove of garlic, salt, and a large, roughly sliced onion, and 2 cups of water.  The roast was great, and I had all of this really nice broth left over, as the rest of the meal was comprised of home made Harvard beets, and VanCamp's pork & beans, doctored of course.
> 
> So, to make a long story short, I just had to make a pot of beans.  I added the bone that I had removed from the roast before cooking it just for such a purpose, 2 cups of dried navy beans, and enough water to cover by 2 inches.  I put the lid on and brought the beans up to pressure.  They cooked for 1 hour even.  Talk about great flavor, I couldn't decide whether to use them as they were, or sweeten with a bit of brown sugar.  I flipped a coin and the sweetened bean option won.  I added 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 2 tbs. molasses, and just for grins, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin.
> 
> ...


Sounds delicious. I have a picture in my mind of you in your stetson sitting outside your covered wagon eating your "cowboy's dinner".


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jul 17, 2014)

Mad Cook said:


> Sounds delicious. I have a picture in my mind of you in your stetson sitting outside your covered wagon eating your "cowboy's dinner".



That would be me,sitting on a blanket of furs, sporting my fishing hat with all the flies attached to it, and sitting on the primitive shores of Lake Superior, eating a steaming plate of beans from a cast iron pot, suspended from a tripod above the fire.  DW would be complaining about the cold, even though the weather was 75' F.  The grand-kids are playing in the water, giggling as each little wave surprises them by liking their little chins.

That would eb a good day indeed.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## CarolPa (Jul 19, 2014)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> Last night, I was in the mood for a quick and easy meal.  I purchased a pork but, bone in.  I threw it into the pressure cooker with a large, crushed clove of garlic, salt, and a large, roughly sliced onion, and 2 cups of water.  The roast was great, and I had all of this really nice broth left over, as the rest of the meal was comprised of home made Harvard beets, and VanCamp's pork & beans, doctored of course.
> 
> So, to make a long story short, I just had to make a pot of beans.  I added the bone that I had removed from the roast before cooking it just for such a purpose, 2 cups of dried navy beans, and enough water to cover by 2 inches.  I put the lid on and brought the beans up to pressure.  They cooked for 1 hour even.  Talk about great flavor, I couldn't decide whether to use them as they were, or sweeten with a bit of brown sugar.  I flipped a coin and the sweetened bean option won.  I added 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 2 tbs. molasses, and just for grins, 1/4 tsp. ground cumin.
> 
> ...




Today I am giving baked beans from dry beans a try for the first time.  I loved them when my mother made them but cannot find her recipe.  I am not cooking the beans in the pressure cooker, but I soaked them overnight and they are simmering on the stove as I type.  The phrase I bolded caught my attention.  I would like mine to be "not as sweet as most baked beans", so I am going to use the amounts of brown sugar, molasses and cumin that you used and go from there. 

Thanks!


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## CarolPa (Jul 19, 2014)

My baked beans are almost done.  I tasted, and they taste pretty good if I do say so myself.  After I started them I realized I didn't have any dark brown sugar, only light brown, so I added some additional molasses.  They have a nice deep rich flavor, and are not too sweet!  Can't wait to see what the rest of the family thinks of them.  This was a trial run before I make them for a family bar-b-que.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jul 20, 2014)

Carol, it does my heat good to be able to share something that other people enjoy.  I'm glad your beans came out good.  Try adding a bit of pepper to them.  I don't as DW can't handle pepper.  

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## CarolPa (Jul 20, 2014)

Do you mean black pepper?  I did add some black pepper.  We eat pepper on almost everything!  DH didn't eat the beans.  I'm not surprised.  He's like Mikey, he hates everything!  But I took some over to my son's house and he and his wife liked them.  They said they had never had baked beans made from scratch.  After eating home-made, it's hard to eat canned IMO.


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## Zagut (Jul 20, 2014)

Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> [snip]
> So, to make a long story short, I just had to make a pot of beans.
> 
> 
> ...


 

Thanks for sharing Chief. 

I understand your having to make a batch of beans. I just finished a ham and made a stock outta the bone & skin. Beans were the first thing that came to mind as to how to use it. 

And I did play with the recipe as I always do. Beans are another one of those things that I never seem to make the same way twice. To many wonderful ideas (And some not so wonderful) ideas pop into my head while I'm making them.

Here's one you might want to experiment with.
A tiny bit of Fish Sauce.  
Yeah I thought the same thing.  
But I tried it anyway and it worked out surprisingly well.


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## Stock Pot (Jul 20, 2014)

Sounds delicious. I usually bring beans to a boil and then let sit for an hour before pressure cooking, but I'm going to try this method. I bet this would work with Cowboy Beans, too, if you don't have the pork lying around. Beans are one of the things pressure cookers do extremely well, in my experience.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jul 21, 2014)

CarolPa said:


> Do you mean black pepper?  I did add some black pepper.  We eat pepper on almost everything!  DH didn't eat the beans.  I'm not surprised.  He's like Mikey, he hates everything!  But I took some over to my son's house and he and his wife liked them.  They said they had never had baked beans made from scratch.  After eating home-made, it's hard to eat canned IMO.



Carol; I did indeed mean black pepper.

Zagut;  I don't currently have fish sauce, but have used it.  I do have some anchovy past.  I might try that in the beans.  I have used it in tomato sauce, but just a little bit.  It adds just the right flavor when used properly.

Beans are so versatile.  Sometimes I make them with bacon, sometimes ham, sometimes with browned, ground beef.  I[ve sweetened them with brown sugar, the afore mentioned maple syrup,  blackstrap mollases, and agave syrup.  Sometimes I like to add a little chilli powder to them.  I've even made bean pie (came out tasting like pumpkin pie).  I also love to make them savory, as in beans and pork, with cumin, onion, garlic, and salt.  When good, smoky pork is added, that just takes them right over the top.

Can you tell that I like beans?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## Addie (Jul 21, 2014)

When my kids were small I made Boston Baked Beans every Saturday. Started Friday night with the soaking, and then the first thing on Saturday, I would set them up in my bean crock and put them in the oven for an eight hour bake.  Yum. Served with knockwurst and brown bread.


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