Full Disclosure: these beans are not – as a family member likes to say – my favorite; but, my husband was pretty happy with them, so I guess there’s that.
They are, though, a nice change from the regular baked beans, and come together pretty quickly.
The nice folk at Food Network call for grilling these for 15 minutes; but I put mine in a small pot and baked ’em at 250º for an hour or so.
INGREDIENTS
•1 tbsp bacon fat
•1 cup diced sweet onion
•1 cup diced red pepper
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
•1/4 cup ketchup
•2 tbsp brown sugar
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1-1/2 tsp cider vinegar
•1/2 tsp Cayenne
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/2 tsp dry mustard
•1/2 tsp onion powder
•1 tbsp sugar
•2 tbsp maple syrup
•1 (15.5 oz can) dark kidney beans
•1 (15.5 oz) can northern white beans
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Melt the bacon fat in a pan over medium high heat, then add the onion and red pepper and cook, stirring often, until the veggies are tender, about eight minutes.
Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, mebbe another minute, then add the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and the seasonings and cook, stirring, until the brown sugar has melted into the sauce.
Drain and rinse the beans and then stir into the sauce.
Now, you have a choice…
Pop your beans into a cast iron (or other grill-safe pot), cover, and place on the grill, close the cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice.
or…
I transferred mine to a small pot, then covered and baked them at 250º for an hour or so.
Like I said… nice enough beans, just, not my favorites.
Note: if you’d feel like you’d like some meat in these, go ahead and add your fave, cooked, to the beans before grilling or baking.