Smoked Honey Baked Beans with Bacon

Good baked beans get thick because you reduce them, not because you bury them in sugar. Start the bacon in a cold skillet so the fat renders slowly, then cook the onion and tomato paste in that fat until the paste turns brick red and smells roasted. TGCS Co Smoked Honey Mustard brings the honey, hickory smoke, and mustard bite, so the beans need only stock and cider vinegar to round out the pan. Bake them uncovered until the sauce leaves a clean trail behind your spoon, then give the skillet ten minutes to settle before you serve it. Serves 6 as a side.

What you need

Food:

150 g thick-cut bacon, cut into 1 cm pieces

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cans navy beans, 398 mL each, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup TGCS Co Smoked Honey Mustard

1 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (use gluten-free Worcestershire if that matters at your table)

1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp sliced chives

Equipment:

10-inch ovenproof skillet or shallow Dutch oven

Wooden spoon

Measuring cup

How to cook it

1. Heat the oven to 375 F with a rack in the centre.
2. Put the bacon into the cold skillet, then set it over medium-low heat. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp at the edges. Starting cold gives the fat time to melt before the bacon scorches.
3. Scoop out half the bacon with a slotted spoon and keep it for the finish. Leave about 2 tbsp of fat in the skillet. (If your bacon gives off much more, spoon out the extra. Too much fat keeps the sauce from gripping the beans.)
4. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes until soft and golden at the edges. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, just until you can smell it.
5. Add the tomato paste and press it across the bottom of the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until it turns brick red and leaves a rusty film on the pan. DO NOT RUSH THE TOMATO PASTE. That roasted flavour keeps the beans from tasting flat and sweet.
6. Stir in the TGCS Co Smoked Honey Mustard, stock, cider vinegar, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Scrape the bottom clean, then fold in the beans and the bacon left in the skillet.
7. Bring the pan to a steady simmer, then move it uncovered into the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Stir once at the 20-minute mark so the beans at the edges do not dry out.
8. Pull the skillet when the sauce is bubbling slowly and a spoon drawn through the middle leaves a clean trail for a second before it closes. (The beans thicken more as they rest, so stop while the sauce still looks a touch loose.)
9. Rest for 10 minutes. Personally I taste after the rest, when the vinegar and smoke have settled, then add the reserved bacon and sliced chives.
10. ENJOY!