Boston Baked Beans
Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients
500g dried Cannelini beans
2 tbsp Mustard powder
1/4 cup Treacle
1/4 cup Soft-brown sugar
2 Cloves
1 large Onion, halved
100g Pork speck
2 fresh bay leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for cooking
1 x 400g tin chopped Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Mint, chopped
Pork Speck
Speck is a pork product made from a boned ham that is moderately salted and seasoned, cold-smoked and then well aged according to local practices and traditions. The exterior of a slab of Speck is brown, while the inside is red with whitish-pink areas. Speck has a strong smoky and zesty scent. During the salting process, the meat is flavoured with black pepper, pimento, garlic and juniper berry which lend it a distinctive and savoury taste.
Method
Soak the beans overnight. Discard the water and rinse.
Place the beans in a large heavy base saucepan, cover with water and slowly bring to the boil. Simmer gently over low heat for 45 minutes (use a simmer mat if necessary), then drain and leave to cool.
In a bowl combine the mustard powder and 1 tablespoon of water to make a paste, then add treacle and brown sugar. Preheat fan-forced oven to 140C. Insert 1 clove into each onion half, then place in a large, ovenproof heavy-based saucepan, casserole or deep-frying pan with pork speck, bay leaves and a sp