Virginia Baked Beans~The Country Cook

Hi Y'all!  I'm so excited to introduce my Guest Blogger, Brandie from The Country Cook .  I knew from the minute that I read her blog, that we would be friends. My parents were from Southern Illinois, and never lost their Southern roots, even though they moved to Northern Illinois. Brandie's blog takes me back to the many family reunions, and my relatives that are still in Southern Illinois. She offers everyone her friendship, encouragement and Southern charm with her down home cooking and hospitality.  With her little Sous Chef, she has  made Honey Bun Cake, Strawberry Bread, Country Potato Salad, Shredded BBQ Chicken, and many others, appetizers, main dishes, and sweets. Go check her out and meet Brandie, if you haven't yet met her.  You won't be disappointed. Brandie, Thank you so much for being my guest blogger today!

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Hello everyone! First let me start off by saying a big THANK YOU to Becky for letting me take over her blog for a day while she attends her Granddaughter’s graduation – yay! Now that is a wonderful reason to celebrate!  It is such a special treat to be here and to have a chance to share a recipe I hope y’all will really enjoy. Becky has been a constant source of encouragement to me since I started my blog. Her kind comments always help me to know that someone (other than my family) is actually reading my blog. And we learn something new about each other all the time. Did you know that Becky and my Mom share the same first and middle names? It’s true!

Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Brandie, the cook over at The Country Cook.  I live in beautiful Southwest Virginia, near the Appalachian mountains. I’m a jack-of-all-trades, like most women. I’m a momma and a wife. I also work part-time outside the home. I love to make comfort food and I like to eat it. I do my best to get supper on the table every night – which can be a challenge some nights. My food may not be considered gourmet or fancy but it feeds my family and it gathers us around the table each day. I cook a lot of the same foods my own Mom made and if my husband and son are real quiet while they eat– then I know I did good. And those are the recipes I share with everyone.

Today, I’m sharing one of my very own special recipes. I suppose you could call them Southern Baked Beans; however, I call them Virginia Baked Beans. You know, cause it’s my recipe and I live in Virginia. Took me a while to figure that one out. I’m a smart one, huh?

But seriously, this recipe makes a seriously yummy dish of beans.  It is always a hit at potlucks and BBQ’s. Give this a try, you are sure to love it and so will your family.  I mean, it has bacon in it, how can it be bad?

Ingredients:

½ pound bacon

1 medium onion

3 (16 oz.) cans Pork And Beans (undrained)

3 tbsp. yellow mustard (or dijon if you’re feelin’ fancy)

¾ cup maple syrup

2/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup molasses

¼ cup brown sugar

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a skillet, fry bacon until crispy, then crumble bacon. Don’t toss the bacon drippings. You should have about a 1/4 cup of drippings left in the pan if your bacon was fatty enough. Finely chop the onions and saute them (over medium heat) in the bacon drippings until onion is clear (it will brown up a little too from frying in the bacon fat). If you used very lean bacon (which I don’t recommend) then you may have to add a tablespoon or so of oil. But the bacon fat is really what adds the flavor here.

Now mix all the remaining ingredients together and add the onions (with bacon fat) and crumbled bacon and pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish and bake covered (with aluminum foil) for about an hour (until brown and bubbly). If you like your beans to be a little less sauce-y (which I do), take the aluminum foil off and bake for about another 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will thicken up the sauce a bit. Depending on your oven, this could take up to 45 minutes. The longer you cook it, the thicker it gets. 

Stir before serving.

Cooks note: If your bacon produced a large amount of grease then you may need to set aside some of it for later use. You really don’t want more than about a 1/4 cup of bacon grease for this recipe. 

Anything more and it will be greasy baked beans.

Thank you again to Becky for letting me share this recipe with all of her lovely readers. I hope she is having a beautiful day with her family. I hope some of you will come and visit me sometime over at The Country Cook.

Also, if you like, you can also find me on Facebook. See you there!

Enjoy!

 

Printable Recipe Here

Well, didn't you enjoy Brandie's Southern charm and this wonderful Virginia Baked Beans recipe?  Try it, you'll like it. This is almost the same recipe that my Mom used to make.  And yes, it is true, that  Brandie's Momma and I have the same first and middle name, Rebecca Ann!