Cowboy Bacon Beans

[teerhardy]

I made these last week for a picnic.  By far the best beans I've ever made.  If you let the sit overnight they are even better!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/cowboy-bacon-beans-recipe.html



Who doesn't love 2lbs. of bacon?


I used red bell peppers instead of green.




Almost done!





Ingredients
4 cups dry pinto beans
1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces
2 whole green bell peppers, diced
1 whole onion, diced
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder, optional
2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
2 teaspoons black pepper, more to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
Rinse the beans under cold water, sorting out any rocks/particles. Set aside.

In a heavy pot (cast iron), saute the bacon pieces until halfway cooked and the fat is rendered. Add the green peppers and onions to the pot and cook until starting to get brown, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, and then add the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place on the lid and cook until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick 3 to 4 hours.

[DirectDrive]

Looks like a great recipe !

[teerhardy]

These are killer!  I will never buy beans in a can ever again!  Super easy, minimal prep time, fool proof!

[DirectDrive]

I liked this recipe the minute I read it because it uses ingredients that you likely have in the kitchen already.
I've made two batches so far and they are both great !

The first batch has the sugar amount cut in half.
Even 1/4 the amount of sugar would be enough for my taste.
This one was done in a stock pot.


With the second batch I took out all of the sugar.
I did two medium-size red bell peppers and two average size Jalapeños.
I bumped the black pepper up to 1 TBSP.
For the chili powder, I used Chipotle Chili Powder.
I love this batch but it would be too spicy for some...try adding just one Jalapeño as they vary in strength.
This one was done in a crock pot.

They are at their best the next day, for sure.

[1buckie]

Nice recipe.........good additions & adjustments by everyone, too !!!

Maybe when you get to this point:  " Reduce the heat to a simmer" they could move to the kettle, go for part of the simmer time & then remove the lid & smoke 'em?

[DirectDrive]

Nice recipe.........good additions & adjustments by everyone, too !!!

Maybe when you get to this point:  " Reduce the heat to a simmer" they could move to the kettle, go for part of the simmer time & then remove the lid & smoke 'em?

That is an excellent idea !

[1buckie]

Pulled, smoked clod, punctured w/ garlic when cooked, extra garlic, Great Northern & pintos from dry,
some reserved beef goo from the original cookup, smoked w/ plum & apple on the beans.... .....personal favorite of mine......decided not to add any peppers or onions, but would have been about like the recipe above..................

[DirectDrive]

Looks tasty !

[Tim in PA]

I have this cooking right now for tomorrow!

[teerhardy]

These things were even better if you let them sit a day.  A meal in themselves.  I like the idea of adding more heat to them.  They are sweet but not too hot.

[Tim in PA]

Wow. These are pretty awesome. I made them Friday night because you guys mentioning that they are better the next day. I reheated them slowly on the grill for dinner on Saturday. I also only put half of the sugar in based on your comments as well. Thanks for that. Next time I want to add more heat. I only put half the required chili powder. I also want the beans to be runnier next time so I think adding more water will help with that.

Here they are getting reheated:

[teerhardy]

The problem with the water is that the amount added will vary depending on the pot or DO you use.  I used a stock pot for mine and it worked out well, but I would imagine if I was using a wide but shallow pan the amount of water added would be less.

Those do look awsome!  I want to try this with a mix of beans instead of just pintos.

[Tim in PA]

Yeah, that makes sense. I used a DO which I think is 5qts. I'll just use the same pot and remember how much I added the previous time.

[DirectDrive]

They do stiffen up the next day like I would guess.
Must be the beans absorbing all the moisture that they need.
Easy fix with water or beer.

I made a quick and easy bean dip with them last night by simply stirring in some Pace Picante Sauce (hot) and heating.

[Tim in PA]

That is a great idea.