Maple Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 2 pounds beans, either kidney or navy pea variety
• 8 (1-inch) cubes salt pork
• 1 Spanish onion, sliced
• 1 quart Bean Goop, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Fill a stockpot with the beans and enough cold water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil and parboil the beans for approximately 20 minutes. Drain the water and reserve for later use. Place 4 salt pork cubes and half of the onion on the bottom of the bean pot. Fill the pot 3/4 full with beans. Add the Bean Goop. Fill the rest of the pot with the reserved water. Place the remaining cubes of salt pork and onion on top of the beans. Cover first with a layer of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 10 hours. Check beans at that time, blowing on them to see if the skin peels back. If so, they are finished. Time will vary depending on your oven and how long the beans were parboiled in the beginning. Cooking time could increase to as long as 12 hours total.

Bean Goop:

2 1/2 cups very hot water

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (recommended: Parker's Maple Barn Pure Maple Syrup)

1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl or medium-size saucepan, mix the hot water with the sugars and molasses to dissolve the sugars. Then mix in all remaining ingredients. Set aside for use in the Baked Beans.

Yield: about 1 quart