HOME-BAKED BEANS

Why would you bother making baked beans when the tinned
variety are so cheap and only take about 30 seconds to warm up in
the microwave? Well for a start, home-cooked baked beans are
something altogether different, and I’m not suggesting you cook
them all the time – or even most of the time – but every now and
then it’s worth making them yourself simply because they taste
good and are at least as cost-effective as tinned beans, especially if
you make full use of the oven by cooking a casserole, a pot roast,
or some barbecue beans at the same time.
Both bean recipes make good vegetarian pizza toppings as well
as being perfect with sausages, burgers, chicken, or even cheese on
toast.
This recipe is as basic as it gets but you can also add grated
carrots or replace half the quantity of tomato juice with beer for a
bit of variety. (Go easy on the black treacle though; if you add more
than a couple of tablespoons you can taste the iron over the other
flavours, which isn’t so good.)
1 lb (500 g) haricot beans (dry weight)
2 onions
2 tbsp black treacle
1 litre carton of tomato juice
1 tbsp English or French mustard
Olive oil
Method
1. Soak the beans in plenty of cold water overnight.
2. Drain the beans, put them in a very large saucepan with enough
fresh, cold water to cover and bring to the boil over a high heat.
(Cover the saucepan with a lid to speed the process up.)
3. Once the water’s boiling, remove the lid, turn the heat down
and simmer the beans for 25–30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, warm some olive oil in another large pan and fry
the chopped onions, adding the treacle, mustard and tomato
juice as soon as the onions are soft and bringing the liquid to
the boil.
5. Drain the beans and put them in a very large ovenproof casserole
dish with the onion and tomato mixture, cover with a lid and
cook in a low, preheated oven, Gas Mark 2–3 (160–170ºC) for
2–3 hours or until the beans are just soft. (Home-cooked baked
beans have a bit more bite than tinned beans so don’t expect them
to have exactly the same soft, squishy texture.)
Tip
If you don’t have tomato juice, whiz two tins of chopped
or plum tomatoes in a blender or food processor: 2 tins
make just over 1 pint (approximately 500 ml) of juice.