Trisha Yearwoods Baked Beans
WOW, they are hands down THE best baked beans I have ever had. Might be the whole pound of bacon...
WOW, they are hands down THE best baked beans I have ever had. Might be the whole pound of bacon...
- Carbohydrate 33.0205160430163 g
- Cholesterol 25.0987741066667 mg
- Fat 15.029263896696 g
- Fiber 6.38809210206389 g
- Protein 9.01518192817732 g
- Saturated Fat 4.97669323561673 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (179g)
- Sodium 663.453536186055 mg
- Sugar 26.6324239409524 g
- Trans Fat 2.39046117295401 g
- Calories 303 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.
- Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the drippings, and drain it on paper towels.
- Crumble and set aside, if you didn't already chop it.
- Pour out and discard all but 4 tbsp. of the bacon dripping.
- Add the onion to the pan and saute until softened, about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the beans, molasses, sugar, mustard and bacon. Mix well.
- Pour the beans into a 3-quart casserole dish and bake, uncovered for 45 minutes.
Standard canned barbecue side dishes often suffer from a watery consistency and a lack of depth, remaining thin no matter how long they simmer on a stovetop. By contrast, a casserole-style preparation relies on high-heat baking to evaporate excess liquid from the sauce while concentrating the sugars from dark molasses and packed light brown sugar. Retaining four tablespoons of rendered bacon fat in the skillet provides the necessary medium to sweat a large chopped Vidalia onion over medium-high heat for seven minutes until the pieces turn translucent and tender. This step builds the foundation for the sauce by infusing the remaining animal fat with allium aromatics before the pork and beans, prepared yellow mustard, and crumbled crisp bacon enter the mixture. Maintaining an oven temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit ensures that the uncovered three-quart dish achieves proper reduction during the forty-five-minute bake time without scorching the exterior edges of the casserole. Utilizing the rendered fat directly impacts the mouthfeel of the final dish, coating each bean evenly while preventing the sauce from breaking down into a greasy film. Achieving this balance requires careful management of the fat reduction phase, because leaving too much grease behind ruins the consistency and obscures the molasses flavor profile. Baking the dish uncovered allows steam to escape continuously, thickening the molasses and sugar blend into a sticky glaze that adheres firmly to the beans and meat. Once removed from the oven, the starches in the beans require a brief resting period to stabilize fully as the residual heat dissipates and the surface oils settle back into the thick sauce.
