You probably already know that I'm a coffee snob! When I find what I like ... I stick to it! I am smart enough to know, however, that the most expensive brands aren't necessarily the best brands! Did you know that I am a pork & bean snob, too? Probably not! I'm not going to tell you that I only buy that brand that has a dog in the tv commercial! I like cheap, plain old Showboat Pork & Beans! My mom used them. My husband loved them. I love them. Don't try to make me use any other brand. I've been bothered the last few years about the price of Showboats! You should also know that Showboats are made by the same Bush company that makes the beans that Jay and Duke talk about on television! But ... they don't taste the same as the fancy varieties! When did they get over a dollar a can? My problem ... I remember when you could get ten cans of Showboats for a dollar! That has changed!
So ... for a couple of years, I've been trying to find cheap pork & beans that taste like Showboats. No luck ... until now. I decided to try the Dakota's Pride pork & beans from Aldi's. Today I did the taste test. Right out of the can ... they look the same and taste almost the same ... very, very close. So close, that I mixed a can of each to make my baked beans and I couldn't tell the difference in the end product. For all I know, the Dakota's could be canned by Bush ... but it would, of course, be one of Jay's secrets and Duke wont tell us!
I've made baked beans the same way for decades. With 2 cans of beans ... mix half a chopped onion and half a chopped green or red sweet bell pepper with a couple Tablespoons of catsup, 1 cup of brown sugar, a couple dashes of liquid smoke, about a Tablespoon of Kitchen Bouquet ... and salt and pepper to taste. I usually add a couple slices of bacon on top, so the drippings flavor the beans. Bake them at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.
You may be asking yourself why this crazy blogger cares so much about pork & beans ... It is because we eat a lot of this ...
This is my brother and my nephew ... all dirty and wet from pulling nets from the Big Muddy River in Southern Illinois! They actually both clean up to be handsome men! This carp weighs over 100 pounds ... and he isn't the largest they've netted! A couple years ago, they had one that weighed in at 135 pounds! This guy equals a few family fish fries! Fish fries require baked beans ... sometimes potato salad ... other times fried potatoes ... but always baked beans. Mine will always be made with Showboats, but now I'll add Dakota's! We are just country folk when it comes right down to it! The only thing better than the fish at a family fish fry ... is the family!
I'll be sharing this with a few of the parties listed in my sidebar! Make sure you stick around though ... and check out my other posts!
