Writing this post, and focusing on baked beans has reminded me of about one of the funniest (or should that be weirdest) songs I’ve ever heard. It’s one from my younger days (not that long ago :)) and was a short lived hit called ‘Baked Beans’ by Mother Goose. Back then video clips were a little less slick than they are today and watching it now, it’s really quite bad but it still makes me smile. If you want a bit of light entertainment you can watch it here.
Anyway, back to the recipe at hand – Slow Cooker Baked Beans. This is one I have wanted to try for a long time and it was worth it. While the recipe recommended using Cannellini Beans, the only ones I could find at the time were Great Northern Beans. From what I could gather, these are slightly smaller than cannellini beans, but apart from that would be equally up to the task. The beans do need to be soaked before using, so make sure you allow time for that.
A note of warning. The recipe also used Molasses, which is not always easy to find but I managed to track some down at a local health shop. Although there isn’t a lot used, the flavour and smell was too strong for the kids. They enjoyed the beans, but next time I will try treacle which should be more to their liking.
Slow Cooker Baked Beans With Ham
Recipe from ‘Slow Cookers’ by Murdoch Books
Ingredients
400g (2 cups) dried white beans (see note)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1.5kg ham hock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup (60ml) molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 garlic clove
3 cups (750ml) water
Method
Soak the beans overnight in water. Drain and then put into a saucepan with fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes, drain and rinse.
Put the beans and all other ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. Remove the ham bone from the cooker and carefully cut off any meat. Cut the meat into small chunks or shreds and return it to the slow cooker. Combine well and cook uncovered for about 30 minutes (I actually turned mine up to HIGH for this part). This will make the sauce thicken and become nice and syrupy.
Serve with thick bread, toast or similar to soak up the juices.
Serves 6
The Klutzy Cook Notes
- Try whatever white beans you like – some may just require a little longer cooking time so make sure they are soft.
- If you don’t have a ham hock, try bacon bones. They will still give a great flavour, there just won’t be any meat chunks!
- Substitute treacle for molasses if desired.
