BBQ Beans

In an effort to become more fiscally responsible, last night's dinner made good use of the rest of the oven braised pot roast from Monday night. Considering we never had much call for leftovers before because we always ate too much on the first go round, these days it's absolutely a reverse situation.  We've cut back on the quantities so much I have to use the old imagination to come up with unique and wonderful ways to use leftovers. What a conundrum. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining because our waistlines are shrinking too.

These barbecue beans are adapted from the Hungry Texan. If you're looking for some great Southwestern eats, then the Hungry Texan is the place to go ...I'm tellin' ya. What a fabulous blog! Oh and be sure to check out the original recipe because it makes use of that slow cooker contraption that I tend to avoid.

Back to the beans - when I say I adapted the recipe, I did just that. You see I forgot to soak the darn pintos overnight so I did the quick method yesterday morning by sorting, washing and boiling them for 2 minutes, then I let them sit for 3 hours and get plump before they hit the oven for another 6.

Full of all that's good including molasses, brown sugar, garlic, onions, tomatoes and best of all ...beer, I upped the spice quotient by adding some jalapenos and decreased the amount of sugar in the original recipe. I changed the cooking method too because it was a cooler day in the desert so the beans went into the oven and that way I got to smell them cooking all afternoon. That's my excuse even though you all know the real reason. I even dumped the rest of the chuck roast including all it's juices into the pot during the beans' last hour in the oven. 

Served with some corn muffins loaded with cubes of pepper jack cheese, it was a great way to eat leftovers, I'll tell ya. Now we just need to figure out how I'm gonna make use of all the leftover beans.

BBQ Beans (adapted from the Hungry Texan)

3 cups dry pinto beans, picked through and washed

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 Tablespoons honey

1 12 ounce bottle amber beer

3 tablespoons Worcestershire

1 – 14 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons hot sauce

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup barbecue sauce (I used Hickory Smoked flavor)

Coarse ground black pepper

Low sodium Beef or chicken stock

2 jalapeno peppers, minced

1 pound leftover beef chuck roast or 10 slices bacon, chopped

Salt to taste

Cover beans with a minimum 3 inches of water in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Cover pot and let sit minimum 1 hour – longer if you can. Drain soaked beans and rinse.

Preheat oven to 275. Heat a large cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, brown sugar, molasses, honey, beer, worcestershire, tomatoes, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and barbecue sauce. Season with coarse ground black pepper. Add soaked beans, and top off pot with beef or chicken stock, so beans are just covered by liquid. Bring pot to a boil, then cover and place in oven. Cook for 6 hours, or until beans reach desired firmness. Check pot every 1-1/2 hours to make sure beans remain covered with liquid, and adding stock as necessary. During last hour of cooking add chopped jalapeno peppers and meat. Taste for seasoning and add salt as necessary. Do not add salt any earlier than this or the beans will remain tough and hard. Increase heat to 325 and cook uncovered until beans are of the desired consistency.   Download BBQ Beans

Comments

[Nanan]

Fabulous use of leftovers and wonderful big ole pot of protein! Don't ya just love fall! Had my house open the last 4 days - love it! Got the chicken & filo defrosted - gonna make that chicken & rice from yesterday - gonna do individual servings I think... Of course - I like you have to tinker with the recipe!

[June]

Tinker away my friend. You know that Chicken/Rice dish would be great with dried apricots too!

[Mags]

I'm a leftover bean keeper. Send them ALL my way!

Great recipe. You know how I loves me some beans.

[June]

Mags, I'll have you know I thought about you yesterday while I was making them.

[Hungry Texan]

Awesome, I'm glad to see you tried these! Looks like they turned out great!!
Definitely try adding the brisket if you ever have an end to use up. It adds a wonderful smoky flavor!

[June]

Thank you so much for sharing such a fabulous recipe with us. It is really GREAT. I must get the big guy to cook up a brisket soon so I have an excuse to make 'em again PDQ. Thanks again! Really love your blog!