I love baked beans: Sweet, smokey, spicy, warm, filling, addictive, cheap... what's not to love? But until recently, my only experience with them in the kitchen has been to pop open a can and heat them up. Considering the volume of burgers, ribs, and steaks I serve up at home, I felt it was time to end my canned-only experience. So I set to trying various recipes, and I've now made a handful of batches. My latest attempt was a combo of a few recipies, and then my own spice blend... and I think we're onto something. These are a bbq style pot of baked beans. So think a traditional kansas city type thick and sweet sauce, with a little kick to it. I've used an applewood-smoked thick-cut bacon in here as well to add a smokey/savory element, but if by chance you happen to be barbecueing some brisket, pork shoulder, or ribs, tossing in a handful of burnt ends into the pot will go beautifully. Recipe is at the bottom, but here is a blow-by-blow of what I did:

I started with a pound of dried great northern beans, boiled then, and then simmered covered for about 2 hrs until nice and tender: 

I then brought out the cast iron skillet, and fried up six slices of bacon. Once fully cooked (you want these very well done) i removed and chopped the bacon roughly. I then added 1 1/2 cups chopped onion to the skillet and cooked over medium heat in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes. I then added 2 cloves of minced garlic and stirred around for another minute before adding the sauce ingredients to the pan. A few shots of bacon and onion frying: 

Now for the sauce. I added the following bbq sauce inspired items to the same skillet: 1 cup chili sauce (I still stand by Heinz), 1 cup Ketchup (Gotta be Muir Glen), 1/2 cup molasses (Grandma's Robust!), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire, 1 Tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard (Gulden's, a nod to Fenway Park),  2 Tsp paprika (smoked is best), 2 Tsp chili powder, 1 Tsp cumin, 1 Tsp coriander,  1 Tsp kosher salt, 1 Tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1 Tsp cayenne pepper. I then cooked this down for about 5 minutes just to make sure all sugars and spices have dissolved evenly:

Then I simply poured the sauce into an oven-proof pot over the cooked beans, and tossed in two cups of water: I baked this for an hour covered in a 350 degree oven, then removed the cover and continued to cook for another 1 1/2 hours. The end result looks like this: 

These are definitely a stick-to-your-bones kind of baked bean... pretty sweet, but some great tang and a little heat from the cayenne. I've made these with about a cup of chopped barbecued brisket and they were even better. But even without additional meat, the bacon adds a ton of smokey flavor and these beans will stand up well to any spring time barbecue. Recipe follows... give it a shot! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb dried great northern beans
• 1 cup chili sauce (i.e., Heinz Chili Sauce, which is essentially a spiced up ketchup)
• 1 cup Ketchup 
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp worcestershire
• 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard 
• 2 Tsp paprika
• 2 Tsp chili powder
• 1 Tsp cumin
• 1 Tsp coriander
• 1 Tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups water

Process:

• Pour the beans into a large soup pot and cover with 4 inches of water above the beans
• Bring the bot to boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low
• Simmer for 1-2 hrs, adding more water if needed, until fork tender. 
• Drain, and put the beans into a large oven-proof pot. 
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. 
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minuntes. 
• Remove bacon, chop, and reserve. 
• Add the chopped onion to the heated skillet with bacon drippings, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
• Add garlic, and stir for 1 minute
• Add the chili sauce, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, worcestershire, mustard, and spices to the skillet, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. 
• Pour the sauce over the beans in the oven-proof pot, add the bacon, and 2 cups water and stir thoroughly.
• If using, now is the time to add a cup of barbecued burnt ends. 
• Cover the pot, and place in the 350 degree oven
• Cook for 1 hr, then remove cover and cook for another 90 minutes. 
• Enjoy!