This past week we went on a road trip to see my sister graduate with her doctorate’s!!!! She worked so hard and we wanted to be there to support her. Crazy, huh? I’m so proud of her, it’s an amazing achievement. While we were there, apparently, it was a long streak of dreary weather. I was ready for some sunshine by the time we got home. While we were out it was over 80 degrees here, and guess what, right when we get back the weather turns dreary again. It follows us everywhere.
Where did summer go? Now that it is apparently gone again, we decided to fire up the oven and get some warm food in our bellies. There’s no salads or smoothies here when it’s chilly out. This Oven Beans recipe is super hearty. I get transported into an old western movie when I eat this, and in fact can totally be made camping! Dump the beans onto a thick slab of cornbread and I’m pretty sure that’s what cowboys ate on the range. (Or at least I hope they did.)
Most baked beans recipes are super sweet, I think that’s why I didn’t like baked beans growing up. This version has a touch of maple syrup in it, which is perfect. With BBQ season coming up, this is a great side for your summer cookouts. Trust us, this is a big hit when you show up with a pot of it at a cookout.
In a dutch oven, brown the ham hock and sauté the onions.
Add the beans, a cup of water, and the rest of the ingredients stir well. Then add enough water to cover the beans.
Bring to a boil then simmer on the stove, covered for 1 hour.
Add additional water to cover beans then bake in the oven for three hours covered then an hour uncovered at 325F degrees. Check on it occasionally to see if more water is needed, except for the last hour where you want most of it to evaporate. This isn’t bean soup.
Ingredients
- 1 smoked ham hock
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed, ground
- 3 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 medium red onion, diced
- salt/pepper to taste
- 2 cups navy beans (soaked at least 12 hours)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a dutch oven, brown the ham hock and sauté the onions.
- Add the beans, a cup of water, and rest of the ingredients stir to combine ingredients. Add enough water to cover the beans.
- Bring to a boil then simmer on stove, covered for 1 hour.
- Add additional water to cover the beans then bake in the oven for 3 hours covered then 1 hour uncovered at 325 degrees. Add water during the first three hours if necessary.
