Memorial Day Beans
Memorial Day is close at hand, a time to honor all those who are serving and who have served this great country. Today, I’m attending my company’s Memorial Day get-together, a time spent socializing with and visiting my coworkers and sharing some hot dogs, brats, and beans. It should be a lot of fun and offer the opportunity to sample some different foods and many different styles of beans. What follows is the recipe I brought. Now, I typically make these in about an hour’s time; however, so I could sleep in a wee bit longer this morning, I decided to make them last night and keep them going in a slow cooker. Let me know what you think! To all who are serving and to those who have served, I thank you.
Memorial Day Beans
Ingredients
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Pound Bacon, diced
2 Medium Onions, chopped
2/3 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 Cup Ketchup
1/2 Cup Barbecue Sauce
2 Tablespoons Prepared Mustard
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
3 (16 ounce) Cans Country-Style Beans
Directions
- In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp.
- Add beef, and onion, and cook until meat is done and onion is tender.
- Drain excess fat.
- Combine all remaining ingredients except beans. Add to meat mixture; mix well.
- Stir in beans. Place in a greased casserole dish. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until heated through.
- (Optional Cooking Method) Place in a slow cooker and on lowest setting and cook for 8 hours.
This looks EXACTLY like my great-grandmother’s recipe! Boy! Trip down memory lane
My boys would love these:)
Today I attended our company’s Memorial Day “Indoor Picnic.” By far, the best bean dish presented was the Manly Housewife’s Dressed-Up Beans! Since I have an allergy to the flavor-enhancer MSG, I can seldom participate in taste-testing homemade recipes offered at such gatherings. However, since I’d already read the Manly Housewife blog today, I knew this particular bean dish did not contain anything that could have caused an issue with my allergy. I was, therefore, excited and happy to be able to try it.
Visually, the beans were VERY appealing, a dark amber color, glossy and rich looking, with bits of inviting bacon and finely chopped burger throughout. They were easily the most eye-appealing beans on the table. The sauce was just the right consistency, not too runny and not thick and “catsup-y” looking like many of the other bean dishes there. That first bite was so delicious that I put my spoon down and immediately text-messaged the Manly Housewife himself to congratulate him on such a phenomenal dish! Then I finished my bowl and went back for seconds! These beans should be touted as more of a main dish than a side dish, certainly so with the listed pound of bacon and a pound of burger in them! They had a wonderful flavor you can’t get out of any plain can beans! I could taste the smoky barbecue sauce, the spicy onions and chili powder, the sweetness of the sugar and the salty, hickory taste of the bacon. The robust flavor and texture of the beef was that extra, special ingredient that made it unique to other bean dishes I’ve tried. I really did enjoy it, and I can’t really think of anything I would change to improve the recipe. It was fantastic just as presented in the recipe. I can’t wait to make this at home for my family!
Well done! One of my friends brought beans on Sunday and I found they were a great sauce for my cuban style pork I made.
Jason