Baked Beans

A good source of fibre is that humble snack, baked beans. I don't mind them occasionally but it is really well worth the while making your own for a change and tasting what the original used to taste like.

There's very little work in making real Boston baked beans. All you need is some time to supervise the cooking. It's a good meal to have simmering away in the oven as you do your weekend chores or spend a damp afternoon in front of the TV.

Baked beans don't have to be mid-winter fare either. They make a change as an accompaniment to a barbecue meal.

This is an old recipe from my collection, but I have added one of those upmarket "today‚" ingredients - smoked paprika - which gives a smoky barbecue flavour. You could also add a handful of chopped fresh herbs in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

The bean used is the small white haricot (pictured). You should be able to find these in the bulk bin section of your supermarket, or with the pulses.

The one thing to remember is the dish has to be started the night before.

A heavy cast iron casserole or a camp oven are good for a dish like this. So is a pottery casserole.

Boston Baked Beans

450 grams small haricot beans
225 grams fat bacon in one piece
60 grams brown sugar
1 tablespoon black treacle or molasses
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
salt

Soak the beans for 12 hours (or overnight) in cold water. Drain and cover them with fresh water. Simmer till the skins are soft - they should burst if blown on.

Cut a slice from the bacon and put it in the casserole. Cut the rind off the rest of the bacon and cut the bacon into pieces.

Put the beans in the casserole with the bacon, treacle, mustard, paprika, mustard and salt. Put the bacon rind on top.

Cover the beans with boiling water and put on the lid. Cook in the oven for three hours at 160C. Check along the way and top up the liquid if necessary.