How to Make Boston Baked Beans: Then and Now

As with most major cities, Boston has quite a few nicknames: The Cradle of Liberty, The City on a Hill, The Puritan City, City of Notions, The Olde Towne, The Athens of America, City of Champions, and more. Each moniker has its roots in one of the many historical contributions Boston has made to the world, be it the American Revolution or sports championships.

One of the Boston's most iconic nicknames is, of course, Bean Town. This one owes its origins to Pilgrims who adopted the Native American tradition of baking beans and corn bread. The Plymouth settlers of the early 1620s modified the recipe to result in brown bread and eventually added molasses to the beans to create the famed Boston Baked Beans.

In colonial times, New Englanders who observed the Sabbath on Sundays would slow cook their beans and bread on Saturdays in order to have a hot meal without breaking Sabbath work restrictions. This tradition of eating baked beans and brown bread on the weekends held firm well into the 1930s when cultural and religious tendencies shifted.

These days, nutritional considerations may or may not preclude pork from the baked bean recipe, as well as other ingredients. But, as we head into summer, baked beans are sure to be on the menu of various celebratory barbecues from Memorial Day to the 4th of July to Labor Day.

To satisfy camps on all sides of the culinary spectrum, here are two recipes: the first is for traditional, bacon-infused baked beans; the second is a gluten-free, vegan adaptation.

Ingredients:

2 cups navy beans
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3. Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
4. In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

Version 2...

Ingredients:

2 cups of dry white northern beans
1 1/4 cup of organic ketchup (Trader Joe's or Annie's are my favorite kinds)
1/3 cup of wheat-free tamari low-sodium sauce
1/4 cup of organic apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of blackstrap molasses
1/3 cup of sucanat
1/8 cup of organic mustard, or 1 tablespoon of ground mustard
1 teaspoon of cumin
3 diced cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
sea salt to taste
cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak 2 cups of dry beans in a 1/2 gallon of water. Let sit over night, and for the next day, change the water in the pot twice a day and do this until you start to see the beans sprout a bit.
2. Simmer in a large pot of water that covers the beans by a few inches, add a few garlic cloves, bay leaves or seaweed to help the digestiblity of the beans and simmer/cook for 5 hours. Follow some of the tips above with either adding in some apple cider vinegar to the later stages of cooking. Add more water/vinegar if you need it over the hours of cooking. You will know your beans are ready after you try then and they are soft and chewy.
3. Remove the leaves and garlic and drain the cooked beans so they are ready for joining the other ingredients.
4. Saute the diced onion and garlic in a large pot and then add the cooked beans, and the rest of the ingredients. Let boil and then simmer up to an hour, or you can cook longer on a lower heat to keep warm until you serve. Cook at least an hour with all the other ingredients to help the flavors mix and cook, and then let cool.