Georgia’s Kitchen: Boston Baked Beans
Georgia Diehm
Keota, Iowa – There’s nothing like something hot from the oven on a cold winter’s day and even though we haven’t had many of them this winter we still have a few months to catch up. It looks like we may have some cold weather in the next few days. So get out your bean pot and try some Boston Baked Beans!
Boston Baked Beans (1890)
Do not soak beans overnight. Place 1 qt of pea beans* over fire. Cover them with cold water & slowly bring water to boil. Then set kettle where beans will bubble but will at no time boil hard.
When they have cooked this way for 15 min add a 4 inch square of salt pork to kettle & simmer gently with beans until they may be pierced with pin but are not all broken up. Then turn beans into colander to drain.
Place together in coffee cup:
2 large heaping Tbs molasses
1 tsp salt & pepper to taste
Fill the cup with water in which beans were boiled. Place beans in bean pot which should be earthenware with narrow mouth & bulging sides. Turn over them the cupful of seasoning & stir until thoroughly mixed. Cut rind of pork in small squares. Sink the meat in beans leaving only rind exposed. Add more bean water until rind is covered.
Bake 2 hours raising the pork during the last 3/4 hr to brown & crisp beans on top. Can bake longer than 2 hours until bubbly if desired. *Note-Bacon can be used in place of salt pork. Also, I don’t know if pea beans are sold today or not. Field beans might work as a substitute. They are a small red bean a little smaller than a pea.
Mom raised chickens when I was a young girl at home. When I was about 4 years old we had a rooster that just didn’t like me. When I’d go outside he’d chase me and peck me on the legs. One day Mom got tired of hearing me run in the house crying so she wrung that old rooster’s neck and it ended up in the stew pot that night! Who knows, maybe she used it to make Hen & Beans.
Hen & Beans
Cut up a tough old rooster as for fricassee. Prepare Boston Baked Beans. Smother pieces of chicken under the beans & proceed as for Boston Baked Beans.
Poverty Pudding
1 qt corn flakes
1 qt. milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Put corn flakes in greased pudding dish. Mix remaining ingredients & pour them over the corn flakes. Set pudding dish in a pan of hot water & bake in a moderate oven(350) 30 min. Serves 4. Note: Corn flakes were invented in the late 19th century. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes came out on the market in the very earliest part of the 20th century(around 1906)
