James Beard’s Boston Baked Beans
The trick to good baked beans is cooking them very slowly with indirect heat. This recipe calls for baking them in a tightly sealed casserole in an oven barely hot enough to toast bread. As the hours pass, the beans drink up a broth flavored with brown sugar (or molasses), mustard and pepper. The gentle cooking prevents the beans from breaking up and becoming mushy. By the time they're done, the pork is falling off its bones and the beans are the classic rusty brown. Be sure to season them amply with salt so the sweetness has a sturdy counterpart. Beard's recipe calls for dark brown sugar. The alternative is to use molasses, which will render a final flavor and color more familiar to canned-bean devotees. The recipe itself requires no great cooking skills — if you can peel an onion and boil water, you're all set — but it will easily take up an afternoon. Plan it for a day when you're at home. Amanda Hesser
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