Saturday, December 05, 2009

Sausage Baked Beans

Here's a very quick-to-throw-together (although not quick to cook) recipe, for those who, like me, consider the crock pot to be one of the most essential items in a kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 lb. pork breakfast sausage (spicy or plain, whatever you like), cooked and crumbled
2 large cans of baked beans (By "large", the normal size of, say, Bush's baked beans. Use whichever flavor you like.)
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbs. mustard

Combine all ingredients in the crock pot, stir to incorporate, and then put the lid on and heat on High for 90 minutes or so. Or on low for three hours or so. Serve as a side dish, or a main dish with nice thick bread and butter. Ideal for a fall or winter potluck.


I love the crock pot. Tomorrow I'm using it to make chili.

2 comments:

Call me Paul said...

I believe you have forgotten the Spam.

Anonymous said...

You shared a recipe, so I'll gladly share my favorite crock pot recipe, too.

Kansas City Crock Pot OMGWTFBBQ*:

Ingredients:
1 3-4 lb. pork butt roast, preferably bone-in, or pork shoulder roast
Daniel's Competition #9** dry rub
Daniel's Original KC style BBQ*** sauce (or other runny KC style sauce)
Apple Cider Vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Liquid Smoke
Lawry's seasoned salt
black pepper

The secret to all good BBQ starts with a good dry rub. Sometimes the roast will split into 2 or more pieces while doing this. If so, feel free to take advantage of the extra surface area and rub it in some more. Optional: A few light shakes of Lawry's seasoned salt go a long way. The dry rub already contains some salt(s), so add to taste or not at all. Optional: Add black pepper to taste.

Pour 1 cup of apple cider vinegar slowly over the meat, covering every surface.
Optional: Add Liquid Smoke to taste or follow directions on the bottle. I usually use about a cup, pouring over all of the meat's surface area.
Optional: Add 6-10 shakes of Worcestershire sauce, or enough to cover the meat.
When opting out of Liquid Smoke and/or Worcestershire sauce, add that much more apple cider vinegar.

Set crock pot to low. Cook time = weight of meat x pi (3.14). A 4 lb pork butt would require 12 hours and 34 minutes on low or 11 hours and 34 minutes if the crock pot was set to high for 1 hour. If possible, turn the meat over midway through cooking and do a little dance. The meat should pull apart effortlessly; otherwise, it isn't quite done.

After cooking, drain liquid contents and set the meat out on a platter to breathe for 3-5 minutes. Then return the meat to the crock pot and stir in 1-1.5 cups of Daniel's Original KC style sauce. It is ready to serve immediately after that, but best after a few minutes of retenderizing in the sauce.

Pairs well with green grapes, applesauce made with Splenda, canned sweet potatoes (or sweet potato pie), cottage cheese, garbanzo beans or hummus and pita bread. More traditional fare includes traditional BBQ baked beans, white bread or bun, potato salad, cole slaw and fries.

* The Urban Dictionary has rejected my attempt to define that as, "No way, I'm a vegetarian!" Other entries define it as really good barbecue, which it is.
** Daniel's Competition #9 sauce won many regional BBQ contests and is best with pork or chicken. It is thicker, like most store-bought BBQ sauces.
***Daniel's Original KC style sauce has won the American Royale Blue Ribbon twice (equivalent to winning the Super Bowl twice). This sauce is runnier, which helps restore moisture to the meat after the original juices and additives have been drained.

-Mark