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| Finished in the oven, rich and sweet Boston baked beans are an American classic perfect for cold winter nights. |
The origins of Britain's beloved baked beans lie across the pond in the USA. Early European settlers took inspiration from Native American beans cooked with maple syrup. In the 18th century the maple syrup was replaced with molasses, abundant in Boston from the trade in sugar and rum.
Beans cooked with small amounts of meat are common across many cultures, as an economical way to make expensive meat go a long way. When buying bacon do choose carefully, much pig production is fraught with unstainable practices (read more in our blog post Soy No More: Breaking the UK's dependence on imported soy). In this recipe Amy used Dorset pancetta with rosemary from The Real Cure - a cured and air dried free range pork belly.
Pork is a traditional ingredient in Boston Baked Beans but you may prefer to leave it out - try adding dried mushrooms, our fava bean umami paste or oak smoked water instead.
As always soaking your beans is not necessary, if you forget the night before, don’t panic but just add an hour to the bean's initial cooking time.
These beans are quite sweet so serve them with something bitter or acidic. Our recipe for Yellow Pea ‘Cornbread’ with Lime & Chilli would make a traditional American pairing. But baked potato, slaw and salad would be great. Or simply over toast.
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Jens Hannibal, plant-focused chef and educator with over 15 years of experience, has shared this sumptuous recipe with us, a glimpse of the approach to cooking you can learn in Jens's new online course Cook with Confidence.
This recipe from Anna Warden makes for a cookie that is crunchy on the outside, and chewy in the middle - to our mind the best combination. The malted wheat flour and coffee create a gorgeous depth of flavour and a moreish caramelly base which pairs perfectly with dark chocolate and sea salt. These cookies will keep in the freezer (unbaked) for a couple of weeks, and so are the perfect thing to have to hand for times you want a cookie or for when you might just need a cookie.
As the nights cool and the leaves turn, so wild mushrooms emerge from the mossy forest floor. Leanne Townsend found a beautiful patch of winter chanterelles and cooked them up with some British-grown carlin peas.
