Slow Cooker/Crock-pot Three Bean "Baked" Beans

 

 In honor of my Mom, Karen's, birthday this week I'm posting real baked beans from scratch the way she taught me when I was, being the oldest of five kids, her sargeant-in-arms in the kitchen. She died in 1988 when I was 23 years old.  I could spin a tale about my Mom and I being really close and best friends, but the truth was that we had a very volatile relationship. Even though I can't say I missed a great relationship, she was my Mom. I loved her and I know she loved me.  What I miss most is the potential for what could have been.  We had just started to become friends when she passed away so I like to think had we had more time together we would have become close with time, patience, and practice on both of our parts. I also like to think that despite the fact that I have now lived longer without my mom than I lived with her in my life that we've both found peace about our relationship and have forgiven each other for our faults.

Happy Birthday, Mom.  I love you.

Slow Cooker/Crock-pot Three Bean "Baked" Beans

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse, inspired by Karen Haggard (Mom)

This recipe makes a  FULL 4-QT slow cooker.  it's perfect for big potluck parties but can easily be cut in half.

Ingredients #1

• 1 lb small red beans
• 1/2 lb navy beans
• 1/2 lb black turtle beans
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 red or green  bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled bacon (can render by hand or use Hormel Bacon pieces which have much less fat comparatively--I keep a 20 oz bag in the freezer to be used a little at a time as I need it.)
• 32 oz beef broth

Plus enough water for the beans to be covered in liquid by 3-4".

Ingredients #2

• 2 cups Ketchup
• 1 15.5 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis, drained
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp yellow mustard
• 2 Tbsp coarse ground brown mustard
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup Sorghum
• Optional:  1/3 cup Jim Beam or Jack Daniels

 Directions:

Pick over and rinse beans.  Put into slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients on List #1.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until beans are plumped and tender. Leave enough liquid to generously cover beans but remove any more than that.

Add rest of ingredients from List #2 and cook on high for an additional 3 hours until beans are tender and sauce is thick and dark. 

Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

 

 

 

Comments

[Mimi]

Glenna, your post brought tears to my eyes. Mother-daughter relationships are so complex. I'm off to see my mother at the assisted living facility she now lives at. Baked beans remind me of her, too, because she often made us "bean burgers" at the end of the month when money was tight. We loved 'em!

[Glenna]

Thanks, Mimi. They really are complex but it doesn't make the loving any less. That's funny about your mom making bean burgers when money was tight. We're from the Ozarks (southwest Missouri) so our "before paycheck" meals were always Brown Beans and Cornbread. Love 'em1