When I was single for 8 years, I spent a lot of time hanging out with other singletons. It made me feel less like I was the last single person on earth. One of the chums I spent lots of time with, was my friend Ben, and around this time of year in 2012 we went on a Christmas Bazaar-a-thon, in his beautiful Citroen.
This was inspired by the much massed Caker Cooking blog. Brian, the king of the blog, went on an annual Bazaar-o-Rama, buying some amazing bits and pieces. Ben and I got some good stuff too, including some weird cupcakes:
and something I haven’t lost yet and wear quite often, a Mad Man style cardigan clip that cost me 50p.
At one of the Bazaars we went to, I won two of my very favourite things in the Tombola – baked beans and beer.
I still have them both, 4 years later. For sentimental reasons you understand, not just because I can’t throw anything away….
Well, I did still have them both, until yesterday, when I used the beans to make Pearl’s divine dish. Cor, it was GOOD. Absolutely delicious, as I knew it would be, just looking at the recipe.
I was at home all day, making black bread:
and piccalilli for the brewery
So it was quite late when I got around to making Pearl’s beans. I had a couple of spoonfuls of them as a midnight feast…
and then some more for my breakfast this morning with the bread. So good!
I modified Pearl’s recipe a bit, scaling it down for one standard sized tin of UK beans (hers specified “2 large cans” and I’m not sure how big those would be in the States). I think I’d use a little less sugar next time, they were pretty sweet, but that’s probably also why they tasted so good… I think a batch of these would be enough for 4 folks for a side-dish in a traditional British breakfast. I’m going to freeze the rest of mine for the next time me and Mr R have a fry-up.
The recipe for these beans was passed to Pearl Bailey by her friend Jean DiMaio – also responsible for the Jean’s Broccoli recipe that I have made, but not written up yet. The broccoli was also delicious. Man, that Jean must have been one hell of a cook. As Pearl says: “I would’t say that my beans turned out like Jean’s, but they were delicious. The kind of delicious that should be spelled d-e-e-l-i-s-h-u-s.” YES!
1 x 400g can baked beans
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon brown sugar
55g / 1/4 cup ketchup
75g / 34 cup cheese, grated
Place all of the ingredients in an oiled casserole dish [I used a little earthenware cooking tin] reserving some of the cheese to sprinkle on the top. Mix well. Sprinkle to top with your reserved cheese and bake for 45 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C / gas mark 4. Let the pot stand for at least 15 or 20 minutes before serving.
They look d-e-e-l-i-s-h-u-s! I’ve been craving baked beans in the last few days and this cooler weather may be perfect timing! The cheese in the recipe is unusual…I’ll be trying these soon. The bazaar-a-thon looks like a blast!
You should definitely try these Greg. Now your comment has brought me back here, I want to make some more… It’s very tempting! The bazaar-a-thon was so much fun x