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. 

Vegetarian Chilli

Vegetarian Chili

When my daughter decided to become a vegetarian in grade school, I was motivated to ensure she was eating a balanced diet, however, I was not as thrilled about the idea of eating food that tasted overly righteous.  I had visions of the sixties and seventies and all those vegetarian restaurants that served brown mush. Equally as unappetizing was the idea of tofu disguised as fake meat.

Chilli had been a family staple, and substituting chunks of portabello mushrooms for the meat provided some depth and and texture while not straying too far from our family fav, even if it was dangerously close to a brown mush dish.

If I am organized, the night before, I soak the beans in water with an onion, some thyme and a bay leaf on low in the slow cooker.  Alternately,  I use canned beans in the chili the day of.

When cooked in a slow cooker, the flavours tend to be more complex, because they have the time to meld together.  This recipe also works well on the stove top, in heavy pot and of course, tastes better the next day.

Serves 6 with left overs

• 1 cup of dried black beans, or 1 14 oz can
• 1 cup of dried kidney beans, or 1 14 oz can
• 1 cup of well washed quinoa
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 3 large onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 large portobello mushrooms, cut into 1" squares
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1/4" slices
• 1 red pepper, cut into 1" squares
• 5 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 28 oz  can of whole tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 -2 tablespoons of chilli powder depending on the amount of heat you are comfortable with
• 1/2 dried chili, seeds removed to lessen the heat,
• 1/2 teaspoon Spanish piquant paprika,
• 11/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 branch of fresh thyme, or about 1/2 teaspoon of dried
• 1/2 cup of red wine,
• 2 tablespoons of coco powder
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoons of pepper corns
• 2 bay leaves
• smokey salt, salish
• fresh cilantro

In a heavy pan, I prefer cat iron, sauté onions in some of the olive oil, add garlic soften. Place in large cast iron pot or slow cooker. Next sauté the mushrooms, and red pepper, add more olive oil if necessary in the frying pan, add zucchini last and soften.  Add chillies, paprika, cumin and turmeric.  Cook for about a minute.  Transfer to the pot.  Add the remainder of the ingredients except the cilantro. If using a slow cooker, turn to low and leave for 6 hours on low, or high for 4 hours.    On the stove top let simmer for at least an hour.  The longer the better.  Taste and add finishing salt if required.   

Serve with fresh cilantro.  My daughter does not eat dairy, however, I will add a dollop of yogurt, or sour cream on top of mine.