[CH] Limey baked beans
Doug Irvine (dougandmarie@shaw.ca)
Sun, 26 Sep 2004 19:12:29 -0700
OK, you guys...the English will use dried white navy beans, and here is
a recipe from my late mother's cook book, first published in 1938 in
VERY English Toronto. It is no longer very English, having become a
melting pot, as has every other large metropolitan area. Here 'tis:
1 1/2 cups dried navy beans
1 tbls salt
3 tbls light molasses
3 tbls sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
2 cups tomato juice
1 very small onion
1/4 lb fat salt pork
Soak beans overnight in water to which has been added 1/2 tsp soda.
Change water and allow beans to simmer until the skins are about ready
to burst. Do not boil rapidly. Drain, and put into a casserole. Cut the
pork into 1/2 inch slices. Bury this into the beans. Add tomato juice
and other ingredients, sufficient to cover the beans. Place lid on
casserole and bake at 300 degrees F. foe about 6 hours. Add more of the
tomato mixture as needed. Remove cover during the last half hour,
bringing the pork bits to the top to crisp. Serves 6.
There you have it, from Three Meals a Day by Jessie Read, Food editor,
Toronto Telegram original copyright 1938. This book was given to Marie
by my mother when we maried in 1949! So, there ya go...NO chiles in this
dish...little itty bitty mustard! But that is the way the English ate
back then. I am certain that today things are different, but when it
comes to beans, not a whole lot. As I mentioned to Dan, we have a Limey
couple in the building who, when they were available here, lived on
Marks & Spencer beans, which were about the same as these, or similar to
English Heintz, totally unlike American or Canadian Heintz. Cheers, Doug
on Vancouver Island BC