Two versions of French Canadian Baked Beans

My friend Denis who is French Canadian came to the country to help with the sugaring off and, and in keeping with the tradition of sugaring off, brought baked beans for the perfect sugaring off lunch.  Denis' version uses molasses, pancetta, and ketchup and is richer, sweeter and darker than my grandmother's.

My grandmother baked beans with maple syrup and ham.  She was also French Canadian and passed the tradition of making baked beans to my very WASP mother. As we were growing up, my mother would begin making baked beans the day after the family finished a large ham, always referencing my father's French Canadian roots as the beans were being served. 

The success of my mother's beans was always relative to the amount of time that the beans were allowed to bake. Baked beans take time, and my mother, sometimes tried to shorten the baking time, which resulted in less than perfect beans. So while it doesn't take much active time to prepare the beans, they do require almost 24 hours of lapsed time to reach perfection. This also makes it the perfect dish for an event because all the work is done the day before, and they are often better the day after.

Denis's French Canadian Baked Beans

Denis's French Canadian Baked Beans

2 1/2 cups of navy beans

1 medium onion

1/3 cup of black strap molasses

1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of dry mustard

2/3 cup of ketchup or tomato paste

1/4 cup of sliced pancetta
salt to taste

Sort and rinse beans and soak overnight in 7 1/2 cups of cold water.  Drain and add 8 cups of cold water, cover and bring to a boil and simmer for a half hour or until tender.  Drain and reserve 2 cups of liquid.

Place sliced onions in bottom of  6 cup bean pot or casserole with tight fitting lid.  Add molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard and soy sauce and salt to beans, and stir.  Add to bean pot, and reserved liquid.  Cover top of beans with pancetta, cover with lid and bake in 300F oven for 2 hours.  Add more water if required to ensure beans remain covered.  Remove lid and stir, and cook for another 2 hours or until sauce is thick.

A Variation on My Grandmother's  Maple Baked Beans and Ham

2 cups of dried white beans, I use kidney beans, my grandma and mother used navy beans
1 large onion
1 shallot,
1 cup of maple syrup
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard 
1 tablespoon of ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon of crushed dried chili pepper
one ham bone or 4 slices of thick bacon
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Sort and rinse beans and place in a large bowl covering with at least 2 inches of water.  Cover and soak beans for at least 12 hours.  Drain water and place beans in a sauce pan.  Cover with at least an inch of cold water.  Remove any bits of ham that are still on the bone and set aside. Place the bone and bay leaves in the pot along with beans.  Bring to boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until beans are soft, about 45 minutes, adding more water if required.

Preheat oven to 300F.  If using bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and cook until crisp, reserving fat for later.  Dice onion and shallot into 1/2 inch pieces.  

Drain liquid from beans, and set aside. Remove bay leaves. Place beans in a 6 quart baking dish with a tight fitting lid.  I found a bean pot that is similar to the one my mother and grandmother always used at an auction and now use it to bake beans in.  Add onions and shallots, ham or bacon bits, maple syrup, mustard and ginger.  Add a cup of the broth saved from the boiling of the beans.  Cover and bake for about two to three hours or until liquid is absorbed and the beans are tender.  If beans are not tender, add more of the reserved broth and continue cooking until tender.  Remove from the oven, remove ham bone, making sure that any bits of ham still attached to the bone are removed and added to the the beans.  Taste and add salt if required.  Stir in cider vinegar and serve.  

This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day, so I often complete the day before and refrigerate overnight, and reheat for an hour at a low temperature of about 250F the day of.  It may be necessary to add additional fluids when reheating.  

Note: Navy beans will take longer to cook. 

Baked Pears

While the salad was being prepared and the table set, I realized I had no desert for my dinner guests. Some very ripe pears were sitting on the counter that needed attention and so I thought I would try baking them like apples.  They were ready just in time for desert.

Baked Pears just out of oven

1 pear per person, plus a few extra just in case
1 tablespoon of maple syrup per pear
1 tablespoon of amaretto per pear
1/2 tablespoon of butter per pear

Preheat oven to 375F.  Peel pears and immediately immerse in a large bowl with cold water and the juice of one lemon to prevent the pears from oxidizing and becoming brown.  Mix maple syrup, butter and amaretto in baking pan and melt.  Place pears in baking pan, rolling pears in sauce to ensure they are coated on all sides. Bake in oven for about 45 minutes or until the pear is soft.  Turn pears and baste with sauce every 10 to 15 minutes while cooking.  Serve warm with ice cream.  The warm sauce will turn to toffee when drizzled over the pear and ice cream.  

Baked Pear with Ice Cream and  Maple Toffee

Red River Cereal Bread

There is nothing like the smell of bread baking in the oven except the taste of warm bread just out of the oven.  I began making this bread when I forgot to bring bread to the country and needed something to serve to guests the next morning.  I had seen  Michael Smith on TV making a version of this overnight bread, and thought I would give it a try and now, often make this variation of his recipe on Friday evenings when I arrive up north.

Red River Cereal became my favourite choice for bread, when Ann, who religiously has Red River porridge for breakfast every morning, left a box behind after visiting one weekend. The cereal is a combination of cracked wheat, cracked rye, cracked flax and whole flax, and nothing else.  This "made in Canada" cereal has limited availability outside of the country, and is one of those requests often received from expats abroad, when visited by friends and family from Canada.

Red River Cereal Bread just out of the oven

2 1/2 cups of organic all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of Red River Cereal
1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
2 teaspoons of salt
2 1/4 cups of warm water

Mix all the dry ingredients including the yeast in a large bowl.  Stir in water with the handle of a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are evenly moist.  Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap, and place in a warm place overnight, 8 to 12 hours.  The next morning empty the bowl onto a floured surface.  Gently knead for a couple of minutes and shape to fit the oiled pan you plan to cook it in.  I have used this 4"x8" cast iron pan, a longer, thiner 3"x12" pan and a 6" diameter round pan, equally successfully.  The longer, thiner pan needs less baking time.

Place the dough in the cooking pan, cover and leave for 3 to 4 hours.  The shorter the resting time the denser the bread.  

Heat oven to 425F and cook for 40 to 45 minutes depending on shape of pan.  Cool on rack and serve.