Kansas City-Style Baked Beans with Smoked Sausage
The memory of backyard barbecues continues into autumn and winter with this dish of slow-baked beans. After hours of simmering, the beans absorb all the smoky, sweet, and spicy flavors, becoming rich and tender. My Geedel Vegetable Chopper quickly preps the vegetables, giving me more time to enjoy the pleasures of slow cooking.
Ingredients:
Beans: 500g dried white beans (e.g., navy beans) or 3 cans white beans
Meats: 300g smoked sausage (sliced), 150g bacon (chopped)
Vegetables: 1 large onion, 1 green bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic
Sauce: 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, 2 tbsp yellow mustard, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp liquid smoke, 1 tsp chili powder
Seasoning: Salt, black pepper
Detailed Steps:
1.Prepare the Beans:
If using dried beans, soak overnight. The next day, drain, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour until tender but still holding their shape. If using canned beans, simply drain and rinse.
2.Prepare Vegetables:
Cut the onion and bell pepper into chunks. Take out the Manual Vegetable Chopper fitted with the dicing blade. Place onion chunks inside and press until uniformly diced. Repeat with the bell pepper and garlic.
3.Cook the Meats:
In a heavy Dutch oven, cook the chopped bacon until crisp. remove and set aside. In the bacon fat, brown the sliced smoked sausage until caramelized on the surface. remove and set aside.
4. Sauté Vegetables:
In the remaining fat, sauté the diced onion and bell pepper for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant.
5. Combine and Slow-Cook:
Return the cooked bacon and sausage to the pot. Add the drained beans. In a bowl, mix all sauce ingredients together, then pour into the pot and stir well to combine. Add a small amount of water if needed so the sauce just covers the beans.
6. Bake:
Preheat oven to 150°C. Cover the pot and bake for 2 hours. Then, uncover and bake for another hour, or until the sauce is thickened and the top is slightly caramelized. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.
7.Serve:
Let rest for 15 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld. These baked beans are the perfect side dish, or can be a main course served with cornbread and coleslaw.
Conclusion
Traditional baked beans require long, slow cooking to meld flavors. The Geedel Vegetable Chopper lays the perfect flavor foundation for this classic dish by quickly and uniformly dicing the vegetables. Its manual operation simplifies prep, empowering home cooks to easily create this patient, delicious dish.
