FruHubs Food: Chuckwagon Baked Beans

Cutting to the chase before you fall asleep after what would have been a very long story about meat, The Frugal Hostess.....  Wait.  How many stories have you heard recently that start like that?  Since when is there such a thing as a long story about meat?  But, honestly, TFH has more long stories about meat than she does short ones.  It's exhausting.

So...where were we?  Ah, yes.  Meat.  So, The Frugal Husband wanted to smoke some ribs for his Weekly Football Extravaganza, but the ribs he bought (from Eden Farms, an ethical pork producer) had this weird and inconvenient extra flap of meat on them.  Known as, well, that flap of meat.  He wasn't really into chowing down on ribs plus meat flap, so he cut it off to use later.  (The long version of this has something to do with St. Louis - is that possible? - and the pros and cons of the Cardinals, and some other confusing stuff, so consider yourself lucky that TFH is here to edit).  FruHubs decided to use the flap in some Chuckwagon Baked Beans.

What?  What do you do with your extra meat flaps?  Hmmm???

These Chuckwagon Baked Beans are freakin' delicious.  Delishable.  You would stab your dad for some; they're that good.  If you don't have a meat flap to add, try adding 6-8 ounces of another type of meat - pork loin leftovers, ground beef, grilled flank steak (yum), etc.  You know, four ounces would be enough, if you only had leftovers....

Ingredients

1 pound dry pinto beans
4 slices of bacon
Medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 minced jalapenos
14 oz. can of whole organic tomatoes, pureed
Meat flap (or other meat, or nothing at all)
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup of barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf
4 cups water
4 cups stock (pref. chicken or pork - but you can use all water if you're out of stock)
1 can of Coke (NOT Diet!!!)

Directions

1.  Soak pinto beans in water overnight (different water than in ingredients above).  Do not, FruHubs insists, try to do a quick soak or four hours or anything else but overnight, or you and everyone around you will regret it.  A lot.

2.  Fry bacon in stockpot.  (From FruHubs: Bacon is kind of bullshit lately, leaner than it used to be.  Add a spoonful from your bacon fat jar or some olive oil if you aren't getting the fat you need.)  Add chopped onion and cook until translucent.  Then add garlic and jalapeno.

3.  To bacon and cooked vegetables, add can of tomatoes and let caramelize for a few minutes.

4.  Add dry ingredients.  Cook for a few minutes.

5.  Add water, stock, Coke, barbecue sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, as well as meat flap.  Cook this into a sauce for a while.

6.  Add soaked beans that have been drained, bring to boil, and then reduce heat.

7.  Simmer for one hour or until desired consistency and taste.

This is delicious with corn bread, either the Jiffy or the old-fashioned skillet kind.  FruHubs puts jalapenos and cream cheese blobs in corn bread, while TFH coats the top with salt and Tabasco and mixes cheddar cheese inside.

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