Name: Bourbon Baked Beans
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 360 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 1 lb. dried white beans such as navy, cannellini, or Great Northern; 2 whole cloves; 1 sweet onion, cut into ½-inch-thick slices; 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 2 bay leaves; 1 (8-oz.) smoked ham hock; 1 cup bourbon; ¾ cup ketchup; ½ cup dark brown sugar; ¼ cup molasses; ¼ cup whole-grain mustard; ¼ cup brewed espresso or strong coffee; 3 tbsp. Pickapeppa or A1 sauce; 2 tbsp. cider vinegar; 1½ tsp. kosher salt; 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Dried beans should be a staple in every pantry. Hearty and versatile, they easily take on the flavors of whatever they get simmered with. Here, a generous pour of bourbon, a smoky ham hock, and a few condiments and spices from the fridge and cabinet combine with the starchy cooking liquid from parboiling the beans to create a pot liquor full of saucy complexity.

You’ll want to allow several hours for the beans to braise in the oven, concentrating the flavors and filling the kitchen with an aroma that will make guests beg to be served. When that time arrives, you’ll have a beloved cookout classic that’s leaps and bounds more delicious than anything you can get from a can.

Ingredients

1 lb. dried white beans such as navy, cannellini, or Great Northern
2 whole cloves
1 sweet onion, cut into ½-inch-thick slices
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 (8-oz.) smoked ham hock
1 cup bourbon
¾ cup ketchup
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup whole-grain mustard
¼ cup brewed espresso or strong coffee
3 tbsp. Pickapeppa or A1 sauce
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Rinse and pick over the beans. Place in a Dutch oven and add water to cover them by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer, skimming as needed and stirring a time or two, until the beans are firm-tender, about 45 minutes. Drain, reserving 3 cups of the starchy cooking liquid.

Insert the cloves into 1 slice of the onion to make them easier to remove and discard later. Place the onion slices, garlic, bay leaves, and ham hock in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Top with the drained beans.

Whisk together 2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid with the bourbon, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, coffee, Pickapeppa sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour the liquid over the beans, cover with the lid, and transfer the Dutch oven to the preheated oven. Bake 4 hours.

Remove the lid and carefully stir the beans. Add a bit of the remaining cooking liquid as needed so there’s enough to come up just to the surface of the beans. Cover the beans and cook 1½ more hours, checking and stirring every 30 minutes and adding more cooking liquid as needed.

Uncover the pot, stir, and cook 30 minutes more, until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick and clings to the beans. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove and discard the cloves and bay leaves, if desired. Remove the ham hock and discard.