Recipe
32 OZ dry pinto beans (the whole bag that I picked up at the grocery)
1/2 pound salt pork cut into 1 inch chunks
1 large white onion cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoon Dijon honey mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup splendor sugar (if not dieting use 1/4 cup brown sugar)
2 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 pimento peppers (Trinidad pimentos) or substitute with 2 Thai chili peppers
enough water to just cover the beans
2 sprigs of green onions
1 stalk of Chinese celery
1/4 cup cilantro
Directions
After picking through and rinsing your beans soak it overnight or for up to 8 hours.
I cooked my beans in the crockpot all day while I was at work.
The night before I prepped everything to be put in the crockpot before I left the house that morning.
Start by crisping up your salt pork on medium heat in a frying pan on the stove.
While this is cooking chop your onions, crush your garlic and your peppers whichever you choose to use. Place these in a container with a lid and place in the refrigerator.
After your salt pork has cooked and cooled, place this as well in a topper wear, with the fat rendered as well. That is the good stuff that is going in our beans. Place in the refrigerator as well.
In a container that will also go into the fridge, put your sauce together. Add the molasses, mustard powder, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper, Dijon mustard and mix it altogether. Cover and place in fridge.
The next morning…break out the crockpot and place the drained beans, the onions, peppers, garlic, your sauce and your salt pork, with the fat also into the crockpot. Add just enough water to cover the beans. Because you are cooking this in the crockpot you do not need a lot of water. Set the crock pot to LOW. I set mine to low and after 8 hours my beans were the perfect consistency.
The house smelt heavenly when I walked in…especially after working out too!
After cooking the beans for 8 hours, remove the lid and add in the chopped green onions, cilantro and Chinese celery. Taste, taste, taste…adjust, add more salt if you want, if you think it is too thick, add some more water, if you want it a little more spicy, add more cayenne, if you want it more sweet add more sugar.
I must say for a first time bean maker…it came out close to perfect. I do believe the brown sugar verses splendor would make a difference though. I served mine with the best pork chops ever…recipe for that will be posted next!
