Growing up, I loved baked beans. Mum would always serve them with potato salad and oatmeal brown bread. The combination was and is one of my all time favorites. My recipe takes a couple of days to make, but most of that time is just soaking and slow cooker time.
2 cups Navy beans
Rinse the beans in cold water, getting rid of any dust and dirt then soak them in cold water for twenty four hours. Drain the beans and dump them into your slow cooker.
1 medium onion
½ pound bacon
½ cup molasses
½ cup ketchup
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder
Dice up the onion and bacon, and add both to the beans in the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients and enough water to cover the beans. Remember – all of theose ingredients are ‘to taste.’ Taste is as you’re adding it and as things book. Start with half of each, then adjust to match how you want the beans to taste.
Mix it all up, put the lid on the cooker and set it to high temperature.
After a couple of hours, reduce the temperature to low. Add water if the beans and sauce are getting too thick. If you add too much water, turn the heat up to high and crack the lid of the cooker for a couple of hours. Taste them early and often, then add more of the stuff you want more of.
Repeat this every few hours for at least a day. The longer the beans cook, the darker and more delicious they become.
Serve with potato salad and oatmeal brown bread.