THis story in today’s Times states that a Vicar has asked his congregation not to donate baked beans to the harvest festival.
(For those that do not know; a Harvest Festival is a service, primarily for children, when they bring gifts of food which are distributed to people who may need them ie the poor of the parish.)
Apparently the asylum seekers who are the intended recipients of these gifts won’t eat baked beans as they think they’re horrid.
Again, on the off chance that people don’t know what baked beans are, they are haricot or boston navy beans (presumably baked) in a tomato sauce, sold in tins
It is impossible to move in Britain without eating baked beans. Every student and most batchelors live on them, usually on toast (my own recipe is to spoon in some Pataks Vindaloo paste, the gastric aftermath of this can only be hinted at in a family environment). My mother eats them straight out of the can (but she is Scottish and they’re all a bit odd).
I like baked beans, and I’m a Californian-born, Maryland-reared, temporary-Florida resident of Polish descent. (Is that sufficiently confusing?)
I’ll dump a couple of cans of beans into a pan, add ketchup, brown sugar, onions, and cheese, then simmer till the cheese is melted and the whole mixture is thick. I like to eat this scooped up on ridged potato chips. yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I got my in-laws in Oregon addicted to British baked beans (and mushy peas) so have to send them a few tins at Christmas.
For the benifit of American dopers, the closest thing you have to our baked beans would be a can of pork & beans. Just take out the lump of fat, cook 'em up and plonk 'em on some toast for breakfast or serve them with some sausages and thick cut fries for dinner. Luvverly.
i remember coming across a great camping dish which i still amaze my mates with to this day.
basically you three-quarter cook a load of sausages and potato chunks, then drop them into a vat of beans and add some mild curry flavouring, onions, peppers and anything else you can think of. cook it up, then serve it - people cringe when they see it, but i defy you to find anyone who doesn’t ask for seconds.
i am from india… but i was in london just recently… and i did eat the canned baked beans… i normally love baked beans… but somehow the tins i bought in london just didn’t taste half as good as we get them here… i even tried two varieties, one with whitish beans and one with the red kidney beans… i’ve tasted better of both varieties at home… or maybe it was because i was shopping at Tescos
I’ve come up with a “grown-up” version of beanie-weenies that my husband and daughter just love…I cut up hot smoked sausages instead of hot dogs, and heat them in the beans. This is particularly satisfying on cool nights, especially with cornbread.
Another sausage/bean recipe that I learned at school (interestingly called ‘American Pie’):
Fry some onion in a pan and brown some sausages. Put them in a casserole dish, arranging the sausages into a cartwheel (assuming the dish is round). Cover with baked beans (Homemade or canned) and top with mashed potato. Wallop it in the oven for a bit and serve.
Oh, you’re quite welcome, Exgineer. A little tip I learned from Chef Troy is to use chicken stock when making homemade beans. I, personally, like blackeye peas with ham or bacon, and a little chopped celery, onion, and carrot in the broth the very best, though I like other kinds of beans, too. If you can’t get your hands on cornbread, try corn tortillas, or tortilla chips. Very good.
Americans, as others have pointed out, eat loads baked beans. Indeed, I believe we can take credit for the invention. What we generally don’t do–and what I find astonishing that Brits do do–is eat them for breakfast.
