On the pursuit of the self reliant baked bean

[British Red]

I'm sure we can work something out Angst

When I have selected the right bean and perfected the sauce, I'll be canning them in batches

I'll probably do a BBQ version too - I like BBQ beans.

 

[mrcharly]

Great work, Red, this is extremely interesting stuff.

Try putting some molasses in the beans when cooking them.

 

[British Red]

Try putting some molasses in the beans when cooking them.

That does sound rather good

 

[Coldfeet]

Are you planning on sharing your recipe for baked beans?

 

[santaman2000]

That does sound rather good

Molasses and/or brown sugar are pretty much standard in baked bean recipes over here. As is some form of fatty pork (often, but not always, smoked)

 

[British Red]

Molasses and/or brown sugar are pretty much standard in baked bean recipes over here. As is some form of fatty pork (often, but not always, smoked)

Yep - totally different animal (but also good). Our "baked beans" are white beans stewed in a tomato sauce - no meat.

 

[British Red]

Well I think I can confirm that they must have been well dried!

The recipe I will use calls for 750g of dried beans so I will make one batch of sauce and split it across the two varieties. That will give me 375g of each type of bean.

That's this much

375g of beans by British Red, on Flickr

I covered them in water

Covered in water by British Red, on Flickr

and within an hour the haricot (white) beans has soaked up nearly all the water

Beans swelling by British Red, on Flickr

Notice how wrinkly the skins have become too (especially on the Dutch Brown)

Larger bowls and more water called for here!

 

[Goatboy]

I'm enjoying this thread immensely Red; and ripping off ideas (hope you don't mind?) for the bean section in a camping cookbook I'm doing at the moment.

There's something so satisfying about beans, I've really fallen in love with them as I've gotten older. And something that's so good for you too.

I love using the likes of butter beans as a mash with sausages or stews. Man I'm getting hungry now. Please keep it all coming, makes great reading.

 

[British Red]

Rip away old chap - take the phoots too if it helps.

 

[Goatboy]

Cheers Sir, you're a Toff. Will figure out a way to send to a copy when it's done, Google drive may work it's currently about 200 pages.

 

[Fraxinus]

This thread is really interesting, growing up we got the "57 varieties" ones on toast but also a lot of broad beans and runner beans we grew at home and what were and still are my favourite butter beans.
Butter beans took on a whole new appeal when I had Gigantes while living in Greece, a lady client made them for our lunch and made any I had tasted before or my attempts at the recipe (so far) pale in comparison.
HFW has a recipe for Boston Baked Beans and the sauce is very tasty, Suzy makes it for us (with her home made salt pork), that uses black treacle in the recipe.

On another note, I saw another greek lady mash up some of the chickpeas for her Revythia (chickpea soup) to make the soup/sauce thicker rather than a rue (hope I got that right and it's not just French for road) this might improve a bean recipe too.

Rob

 

[British Red]

On another note, I saw another greek lady mash up some of the chickpeas for her Revythia (chickpea soup) to make the soup/sauce thicker rather than a rue (hope I got that right and it's not just French for road) this might improve a bean recipe too.

Rob

Quite right Rob - but it is written Roux when talking about a sauce base.

 

[Fraxinus]

Quite right Rob - but it is written Roux when talking about a sauce base.

Oh! b****r, I thought that and then decided it was a famous chef....

 

[British Red]

Oh! b****r, I thought that and then decided it was a famous chef....

It is, Michel Roux He runs Le Gavroche (two Michelin stars no less!)


Well, I have made baked beans -LOTS of baked beans

I'll post pictures shortly

 

[British Red]

Right - having soaked the beans overnight, I decided to pre boil the beans. So I drained and rinsed the beans (you lose a little vitamins this way - but also grit!)

Drained Cannelini by British Red, on Flickr

I covered the beans with water, and brought to a rolling boil

Cannelini Boiling by British Red, on Flickr

The plan from the recipe I was using - and experience of dried cannelini and kidney beans - was to boil for 90 minutes

However, after 30 minutes they were super soft and split so I stopped boiling them. Another example of "don't blindly follow instructions"

Boiled Dutch Brown Beans by British Red, on Flickr

Boiled Cannelini by British Red, on Flickr

Now dried beans get drier over time and they also produce a hard pectin coat that stops them rehydrating. I can only assume that because these beans were so fresh, they required far less cooking than normal. Had they stayed hard after 90 minutes of boiling I would have added 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per pound of beans. This breaks down the pectin layer and helps the beans rehydrate. It also helps combat hard water. DON'T add more baking soda though - it makes the beans taste soapy.

Science is here

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541459-can-baking-soda-tenderize-dry-beans/

Right so we have lovely soft beans - next for the sauce

 

[British Red]

Righto - on to the baked bean sauce. The most likely contender I found when researching a "proper Heinz beans" recipe was this one

http://www.thetiffinbox.ca/2010/05/english-baked-beans-heinz-style.html

I have pretty much used their recipe with a couple of adaptations to my taste.

You will need

1200 ml crushed tomatoes (Three large tins or two pints i you can your own)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Large handful of mixed herbs (rosemary, sage)

2 - 3 cloves garlic

1 large onion

2 cloves

4 tbs Worcester sauce

1rsp "Flaming Arrow" hot sauce (or two of Tabasco)

1/4 pint of Muscovado raw cane sugar

1 tsp Sea Salt

750g beans (I split the sauce over 375g of Ductch brown and the same weight of Cannellini)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bicarb of soda) - which I did not need but you may if the beans are older

Sauce Ingredients by British Red, on Flickr

Peel and finely mince the garlic and finely chop the herbs and put them together in a bowl

Chopped Herbs by British Red, on Flickr

Combine the Worcester and Flaming Arrow Sauces with the salt and cloves and sugar in another bowl

Combined Ingredients by British Red, on Flickr

Finely chop the onion and sautee or five minutes in the olive oil

Diced Onion and Olive Oil by British Red, on Flickr

Add the herbs and garlic and sautee for another five minutes gently

Sauteed Garlic and Herb by British Red, on Flickr

Add the tomatoes and sauces, cloves, sugar and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes

Tomato Added by British Red, on Flickr

Leave to cool and then puree to smooth in a blender

Pureed Sauce by British Red, on Flickr

Pour the sauce over the beans and cook gently for 45 minutes

Cooked Dutch Brown Baked Beans by British Red, on Flickr

Cooked Cannelini Baked Beans by British Red, on Flickr

Leave to cool and they can be stored in the fridge or frozen or canned (if canning, reduce the time of cooking in the sauce as they will cook in the pressure canner)

Finished Baked Beans by British Red, on Flickr

The results?

Well both taste pretty fine. For me the Dutch Brown are shorter, fatter and more finely textured, so they win on points, but either are fine from a taste perspective. I will check with the taste panel at the weekend

 

[Macaroon]

Excellent! I'll definitely be making use of this for next year's beans; healthy and filling fast food - what's not to like?

Thank you for taking the time to do this

 

[squishy]

Definitely want to give this a go

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[British Red]

Definitely want to give this a go

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Its a lot of fun - I will certainly do a BBQ and probably a "curried bean" version at some point

 

[squishy]

bbq beans sounds very good

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