Sparkle Kitchen: Cowboy Baked Beans
In this week’s by Thistle by Thimble story "Times Gone By", Michael and his daughter, Linny, take a vacation to a place in the mountains that is set up like the olden days of the Colorado Gold Rush. At first they are surprised that their accommodations have no modern conveniences at all, but it doesn’t take long for them to find the magic that lives in the simple peace and quiet of the “Old West”.
One thing cowboys of that time period certainly had to get used to was the food. When moving herds of cattle through the plains, there weren’t grocery stores or restaurants to stop in for a meal. On the trail, cowboys ate mostly dried meats — think beef jerky — and lots of beans. Full of protein and easy to transport without refrigeration, it’s easy to see why camp cooks made dried beans a staple.
Most modern cowboys and cowgirls are used to canned beans, but our posse…er, family…loves to cook up a pot of dried beans every now and then. Not only do they have incredible flavor, with the no-soak method discussed below, you can make up a batch in an afternoon instead of having to remember to start the process the night before.
Once you have the basic process down, you can freeze the cooked beans and use them for tacos, salads, or the “Cowboy Baked Beans” recipe below.
No-Soak Beans Cooking Method
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Put about 1 pound of beans — pinto, kidney, black beans, or similar — in a dutch oven or cast iron pot, along with ½ tablespoon of salt. Add enough water to cover by an inch or so, then put the beans on your stovetop and bring to a boil.
Once the beans are boiling, cover the pot, and carefully pop it in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. It’s a good idea to check on them about halfway through so that you can top off the water if necessary. Then, drain the beans, and use in any recipe that calls for canned beans.
Cowboy Baked Beans
Ingredients
1 pot of cooked, no-soak beans (above)
3 slices bacon
½ onion
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup vinegar
½ cup barbeque sauce
⅓ cup ketchup
⅛ cup mustard
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup water
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Chop the bacon into chunks, and put it in a dutch oven or large cast iron pot over medium heat. Dice the onion, add it to the bacon, and let the two cook together until the onions begin to go translucent. Dice the garlic and add it to the pot, too, letting it cook for about a minute before you add the vinegar. Then add the barbeque sauce, ketchup, mustard, honey and water, mixing well to incorporate them.
Bake in the oven, covered, for 30 minutes; then uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. We enjoy our baked beans — just a little fancier than the cowboys did — with grilled flank steak or burgers.
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About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
