Wow! I didn’t realize that there were so many barbecue
loving blog readers! I received a ton of emails from readers who were so
excited to share their barbecue stories including one email from a woman this
morning detailing how to barbecue a whole pig that involved a bathtub, beer and
a truck. These are my kind of people.
Because I live in Par-ee, I didn’t realize that it is Memorial Day weekend back in the states! I wish I had thought of this barbecue blog series sooner so I could share all of my family recipes before the big weekend. Alas, we have a whole summer of barbecue ahead of us so not to worry.
I thought it would be fun to take a few days and share my
mother’s, my grandmother’s and my great grandmother’s recipes with you that we
have used for generations. These are the recipes we use for summer barbecues.
Even though I like to go to dumpy barbecue joints, if we are doing barbecue at
home, we still make it a formal affair because that’s just how my family is.
Even though my grandmother’s recipe calls for a white trash can of Pork n
Beans, it was always served on beautiful china in the formal dining room. Isn’t
that funny?
Okay, these next few blogs are all about the barbecue
fixin’s… The sides. These aren’t fancy recipes, they are not gourmet… They are
real and they are delicious. However, I must warn you… My mother wrote out all
of these recipes and with that comes a whole lot of funny. My mother has self
diagnosed dyslexia, is a horrible speller and is just overall confusing. You
have to have had to live a lifetime with her to actually understand what she’s
talking about. I don’t know how she taught cooking classes because I know how
frustrated she gets when we mere mortals don’t know what she’s talking about.
She just assumes that everyone is or should be a master chef. When I was
growing up, 90% of my life was spent in the kitchen with my mother watching her
cook. Rarely, very rarely, she would let me stir a sauce but then she would
take the spoon out of my hand and tell me that I was stirring it wrong. I’m
pretty sure I do the same thing to my daughter, Grace.
My mother is the type of cook who “feels.” She doesn’t
really follow recipes, no two meals are the same, she uses all of her senses to
cook and the results are… Extraordinary. So, with that being said… I’m just
going to let her recipes be themselves… Confusion, misspellings, improper verb
tenses, condescension, assumption and all. She will most likely not tell you
what temperature the oven should be because she assumes you should just know.
And my God, you better be using the proper cookware or heads will roll. Doesn’t
this sound like fun? Just kidding, trust me, it is fun because my mother has a
wonderful characteristic of being able to laugh at herself.
Today’s recipe from my mother, Anne:
O’Connell Family Baked Beans
This recipe was my Mom's (Ellie’s grandmother) and I have
never had a actual written recipe. It
was just as you go!
So here it is..as I go!
1 large can of Pork
n Beans (I pour most of the liquid off) actually, make that two large cans.
about I/2 cup of
ketchup
about 1/2 cup of brown sugar
about 1/2 of a green pepper cut in small sizes
about 1/2 of a large onion
a few splashes of Worchestershire Sauce
about 8 to 10 slices of bacon
Pour the pork n beans into a large bowl. Add all of the ingredients, except the bacon,
and mix together. you might like to add
more or less of each of them. This is
just how I start. I probable add more
ketchup and brown sugar and a whole onion and whole green pepper. I probably
add more worchestershire because I like it to be a dark color and have a rich
taste. But it does add salt so be
careful. Taste it and see how you like
it...a little sweet but a richness to it. I usually double this recipe. Love the leftover beans the next day.
Now put it in a glass baking dish. Round or rectangle....
any size. It is better to have it in a smaller dish that will give it some
depth instead of longer and not as deep.
Now place 4 or 5 slices of bacon across the dish and then the other 4 or
5 across the dish in the other direction to form a basket weave pattern. Makes it look special! The bacon is important to this recipe.
Bake in a 400 oven for about 45 to 60 minutes. Don't let the beans over cook and dry
out. You want them to be moist. I have burned them many times so be
careful. Put the timer on....Anne
Voilà! My grandmother’s baked beans via my mother. Welcome
to my world. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recipe… My great grandmother’s summer
barbecue corn casserole.
I just made the corn casserole from the RITZ in DANA POINT yesterday........forgot it at dinner time and found it this AM.........Lucky we ALL did not burn up in a fire!!!!Look forward to your families version!LOve PORK & BEANS........never eat it but I will NOW!Food for thought.....another cookbook.FAMILY RECIPES Through the generations!!! BY ELEANOR O'Connell.HAVE YOU ALL PURCHASED HER OTHER COOKBOOKS???YOU SHOULD........I have both and ADORE THEM!XOXOXO
ReplyDeleteMy mother, when asked how she cooks something in particular, will say, "Well, there's nothing to that! All you do is ...." - and it's a whole page of instructions! Included in the verbal instructions are comments about how other people prepare the dish and why she has rejected their methods. Mothers, gotta love them - and I realize that I'm just as bad or probably worse with my children! As always, love your blog!!
ReplyDeleteThat's almost the way I make my baked beans. The difference is . . . I saute my onions in a little bacon grease first, then add all of the other ingredients. It's been a favorite of family and friends for years!
ReplyDeleteThis might just be a baked bean recipe I can make. I've tried the soaking dried beans shebang and the dang things plunked off the serving spoon like little stones. Not really a fan myself, but my husband would probably appreciate this.
ReplyDeleteLove your mom's commentary - " make it look fancy" ! HAHAHA
mouth watering, finally found a good BBQ place here in Florida....it's a treat for me....can't do it too often though....finger licking good! The place also includes homemade macaroni and cheese, oh my gosh! Your mom's recipe, similar to mine and sometimes I add a teenie bit of french's yellow mustard ~ xoxo
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely mustard. It imparts a tanginess that balances all of the sweetness and adds to the depth of flavor.
DeleteSheila from Port Townsend
I make my baked beans from scratch and because it involves so much time, I usually make a huge batch, enough to fill a turkey roaster. They are so good, there are no leftovers because everyone wants some to take home. Anyway, I made a batch for a big party and had them with a cover on in the back of my truck. My old Airedale, Danny, rode in the back on his bed. Along the way, I stopped to let him out for a walk and I found him asleep. He had taken the top off the roaster, had a large snack and fallen asleep with his head resting on the baked beans in the roaster!! Beans all over his chin whiskers!! I cleaned him up, rearranged the top of the beans and continued on my way.....
ReplyDeleteHilarious!
DeleteSheila from Port Townsend
This whole series is just going to be painful from an expat point of view. Because you KNOW that if I try to make this with "what I can get" here in the South of France that it isn't going to be anywhere near the real thing. But that doesn't mean I am complaining! Bring on the rest!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis recipe is almost like the one my mom used to make, I'm from Quebec (French Canadian) and we love baked beans, but mostly at breakfast! My mom used to take navy beans and soaked them all night, then bacon, molasses, onions. I will try that recipe next time, sounds good and I will start eating baked beans with bbq LOL
ReplyDeleteFrench girl from Quebec city
Bon weekend
xoxo
Yay, Molasses, mo, mo, mo molasses.
DeleteDrool.
Sheila from Port Townsend
LOVE this recipe, but mostly how it reads:) Happy Saturday! xob
ReplyDeleteOh yes, baked beans are never the same without bacon, crisscrossing across the top is a great idea!! Thanks Ellie!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
Okay - it's 8:30 a.m. or so here in Missouri, and I'm now craving a huge bowl of rich, thick, baked beans!! Me, who these days is usually content with a kale and blueberry smoothie!! This is very similar to my grandmother's recipe. She may or may not have put a little brown sugar in hers. Love the reference about the hog and bathtub . . .! Hysterical!
ReplyDeleteOk...so I am the barbecuing lady with the truck and the bathtub! I love Ellie's recipe for baked beans. My only suggestion is to saute the green pepper and onion in bacon drippings from four pieces of bacon you cook to a crisp and add to the top of the beans at the moment you put them in to bake. Also, take that brown sugar, add a dollop of Dijon mustard and a quarter cup of good bourbon. Mull it all together and voila. bourbon baked beans a la Georgia.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration…I just layered a can of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans with apple-wood smoked bacon - yum!
ReplyDeleteThe thought of your great grandmother opening a can of pork n beans got me thinking about the timeline/invention of canned food and go figure...France, late 18th century. Frenchman Nicolas Appert pioneered the process of canning. By 1880 pork and beans were commercially canned in the US. We sure know a good thing when we see it ;)
Thank you Anne! You included all the important details...ingredients, temperature and time. I’ll bet your burnt beans were in a long, shallow dish at the time.
Ellie, your next O’Connell Family Cookbook should include cartoons. I can just see one of your Mom with a bubble-thought above her head saying “Ellie spent 90% of her life watching me cook and the next 10% stirring the pot!” hehe
Haha your mom and I write recipes the exact same way! It's very frustrating for people to ask me for recipes! Her baked beans are similar to mine--though I wouldn't be able to tell you by taste. Since I've never, ever once tasted my baked beans. I cook them only by smell and can't ever remember what I usually put in.
ReplyDeleteBut I have LOTS of thoughts on potato salad and Mac n cheese and cornbread. As I enjoy both cooking and eating those. Oh and crisps, crumbles, bettys, and cobblers. But like your mom, I don't bother trying to barbecue meat. It's not my thing and better left to those obsessed and devoted to it. I have made a really wonderful vinegary Carolina barbecue sauce with chives and lemon though. But it's not a "real" sauce. I've been in South Carolina and had the most wonderful barbecue last week in Savannah, GA last week. I'd say the mark of a good barbecue restaurant is if you're afraid to park your car.
Ellie I love your mother, she talks and thinks like I do, so I understand everything perfectly. Can't wait for the corn casserole.
ReplyDeleteEllie, This is my mother's recipe, too, except she added yellow - not dijon - mustard. I loved those beans, and the more bacon on top the better! Love your mother's comment that the bacon basket weave made it look 'special'!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Joanne