More Cold Weather Condo Cooking - Baked Beans

When the winter temperatures drop into the teens or lower, I like to cook and bake. It provides additional heat to take off that winter chill, the condo smells wonderful and then there are all of those goodies to eat.

Baked beans are one of those infrequent meals that can be hearty, healthy and tasty. Ideal for winter.

We made a baked ham for our Christmas celebration here at home. I kept the narrow portion of the ham which is called the "hock" or "hough." This I froze and set aside for use to make baked beans. I used my mother's old "Club" aluminum casserole to make this.

My recipe which is based on my mother's uses Great Northern beans, molasses, ham, onion, chili sauce, catsup and bacon. The beans are soaked and boiled gently until soft. While soaking kombu can be used to tenderize the beans. After heating I then drain the liquid and set it aside. It is used as necessary with the beans. I then slice and add the ham to the beans. I also add the chili sauce, dark molasses, onion, and catsup to sweeten to taste.

I put a thin layer of bacon on top to form a nice crust and avoid drying of the beans. An aluminum foil "tent" can be used, but should be removed to get a nice crust.  Some of the liquid set aside after draining the beans can be added if necessary while cooking and to prevent over dryness.

Here is what the casserole looks like prior to putting in the oven:

After baking this is what we have. My spouse took a taste to confirm it was good and ready to eat:

The beans go great with ham or steak and coleslaw!