Baked Beans

Last weekend I found some baby back ribs on sale at Sam's.  John Marvel had just made the BEST baby back ribs for the MOPS March/April party so I was anxious to try the recipe for myself.  What goes with baby back ribs?  Cole slaw, au gratin potatoes, baked beans.  MMMMM, lots of good things.  Many times over the years I've doctored up a can of baked beans. But, I can't recall ever having made my own from scratch.  It was time to try.  Particularly since I had well over half a slice of ham left from the pork skewers for the MOPS party.  Gosh, it does sound like all the MOPS do is party and eat!  I started with some great northern beans and looked at a couple of recipes.  One of my favorite barbecue guys is Steven Raichlen.  I probably used his recipe the most.  But, his calls for canned beans.  I wanted to avoid those because of the sodium. 

Baked Beans
1/2 bag great northern beans (13 svg bag)
1/2 ham slice (3/4 of a pound)
1 kielbasa, cooked and diced
1 onion, finely diced and cooked with the kielbasa
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c shagbark hickory syrup or maple syrup
1/2 c barbecue sauce
1/3  ketchup
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T dry mustard
1 T yellow mustard
1 T cider vinegar

Cook the beans.  You can either soak them overnight, then cook them or boil them for 10minutes then cover them and let them soften a bit.  Whichever method you choose is fine.  Then, you want to cover them with water and let them simmer for a couple of hours.  Add the ham in at the latest halfway thru the cooking.  Saute the kielbasa and onion.  Once the beans are tender, drain them.  Shred the ham and put it back in with the beans.  Put in the rest of the ingredients and heat through.