Woonsocket Baked Bean Recipe

To start off the holiday baking season, I'm posting a family favorite.

Woonsocket Baked Beans as cooked by my grandmothers. Both recipes work, both fill you up, and both are known as "Extreme Comfort Foods."

Ingredients:
One bag of White Navy Beans (Can use Northern Pea Beans if Navy not available.)
One smallish white onion
One table spoon mustard powder
One half cup dark molasses
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
One 4-6 ounce slab of Salt Pork, or Pork Fat Back, or you can use a shit load of bacon if you can't find the chunky fat meaty goodness.

Note: This is Memere Hebert's recipe, Memere Trottier added 1/4 cup white sugar and cut the brown sugar to 1/2 cup. Memere Trottier also added 1 teaspoon of salt.

Note: The Undefeated Bean Hole Bake / Klondike Derby Championship recipe that we cooked up, was the above recipe from Memere Hebert plus 1/2  cup Clove Honey!

Cooking:
1. Clean and parboil beans (I hate chewing bean sized rocks)
    Parboil Method 1: Soak overnight, put only one inch of water above one package of beans! (You know what can happen!)
    Parboil Method 2: Boil (more like lightly simmer, not a rolling boil) for 1 hour or until husks start to come off beans)
2. Save the parboiling water, you're going to add this water to the bean mix after the next step.
3. Throw everything into a crock pot and let it stew for 10 - 12 hours or until nice and thick and gooey dark brown!
4. Mix everything up just enough, but not too much or you'll have mashed beans when your done cooking them.)
5. Pour in the parboil water to cover the beans only about 1/2 inch!
(No more or you'll be cooking the beans until tomorrow before its thick.)

A Finer Dining Note:
Don't forget to serve the beans with rolled and tooth picked boiled ham slices, and an ice cold salted "Gansette" to have the full Woonsocket Ice House experience!

Campy Out!