BOSTON BAKED BEAN POT RECIPES

Steps:

• NOTE: Use navy beans, California pea beans, or small white beans.
• Soak beans overnight.
• In the morning, preheat oven to 325°F Place the baking soda in a Dutch oven and fill half way with water.
• Bring to a boil, add the beans & boil for 10 minutes.
• Drain beans in a colander and run cold water through them. Set aside.
• Dice the salt pork (available in the bacon section of the grocery store)into 1-inch squares.
• Put half of the salt pork on the bottom of the bean pot, along with the onion.
• Put beans in the pot.
• Put the remaining salt pork on top of the beans.
• Mix the sugar, molasses, mustard, salt and pepper with 3 cups of hot water and pour over the beans.
• Cover pot with lid and place the pot into the preheated oven.
• Bake for 6 hours.
• Check pot periodically to make sure the amount of liquid is okay.
• Add water to the beans slowly as needed to keep them moist; DO NOT FLOOD THEM. Just "top them up".
• Remove the pot from the oven and serve.
• NOTE: The Durgin-Park, a Boston restaurant whose origins date back to the American Revolution, is famous for its Boston baked beans, baked Indian pudding and apple pan dowdy. Durgin-Park cook Tommy Ryan has prepared this recipe at the restaurant for the past 37 years.
• Durgin-Park serves 1,000 diners on an average Saturday evening. The waitresses have a reputation for their long memories: the second time you come in, you get the same thing you ordered the first time--unless you speak fast.

Steps:

• Soak the beans overnight in plenty of fresh cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
• Drain and rinse, then put in a heavy, ovenproof pan or casserole, with fresh water to cover the beans by about 5cm/2in. Bring to the boil and boil hard for at least 10 minutes. Lower the heat to get a gentle simmer, cover with the pan lid, and simmer for about one hour until the beans are tender but not completely soft. Remove from the heat.
• Cut the pork belly in large 5cm/2in cubes, leaving the rind on and add to the beans. Stir in the brown sugar, black treacle and mustard.
• Press the cloves into an onion and add, with the extra onions, to the pot. Season with pepper, but no salt at this stage. If necessary, add a little hot water so that the beans are covered.
• Replace the lid on the casserole. Bake the beans into the oven to bake for about three hours. Then remove the lid and dragging some of the pork chunks to the top. Return, uncovered, to the oven, for a further hour. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Serve on it's own, with crusty bread (or on toast), as a snack or light meal.
• The baked beans will keep in the fridge, in a sealed jar or tupperware container, for two weeks. You can also freeze any leftovers.