apple pie baked beans

Every time I make this I get asked for the recipe or what I put in it. A handful of extra ingredients and 20 minutes can take your boring baked beans into something you actually want to eat. It's my go to side dish for potlucks and whenever I make bbq the boss pretty much insists on it.

I found this recipe on the webs a couple years ago. I cut back on the sugar a little but I've left it mostly unchanged. It especially good if you add a pound of leftover pulled pork.

I had just finished smoking bacon when I made this. I used the rind I sliced off the add some flavor. If you want you can use a few strips of bacon too. I've found that it's a little more trouble than it's worth to go out of my way to add it though so if you don't have any don't worry.

Yes, I am a messy cook.

4 bacon strips (optional)
2 28-oz cans Bush's Baked Beans, drained
1/2 C of your favorite bbq sauce(stay away from honey bbq-too sweet)
1 lb. smoked leftover pulled pork (optional)
1 can apple pie filling, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/3 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. of your favorite mustard
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp bbq rub (optional)

If you're using bacon fry the strips up and set aside. Using the bacon grease, saute the onion and bell pepper until soft or about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and the bacon if you are using it and have managed to not eat it already. I like to bake it for 45 minutes or so but you can let it simmer also. If you want to mix things up you could add some Jimmy Dean's breakfast sausage instead of pulled pork, Peach filling instead of apple or some jalapenos instead of chipotle powder. Get fancy.

bacon

Maple Maple Cured

Bacon is probably your favorite food, even if you're a vegetarian. Making homemade bacon is actually very easy to make-it just takes some time. I just started making it a few months ago and it's easy to get hooked. The comparison from the store bought stuff that you currently think is the good is actually kind of crappy when you compare it to homemade bacon. Don't get me wrong, it's still good but I promise if you make your own you'll know what "real" bacon is supposed to taste like. No, it won't save you money, you might break even but the quality makes up for it.

"plain" cured bacon rubbed w/cinnamon and sugar

I've now made this 3 or four times in as many months and I've started to venture off the beaten path a little. My go to seems to be a maple/honey/thyme cure but I've been trying a few new things.  The pic above has been one of my favorite sweet bacons I've made so far. I didn't add anything to the cure but I did rub it in cinnamon and sugar before I smoked it. On the sweet side but it's the bomb diggity.

If you give this one a go I would suggest doing a sweet one like maple or cinnamon a sugar and a savory one that can be used in other dishes like carbonara, bacon cheese burgers or a salad. Bacon is an easy thing to experiment with. Add a mix of herbs, fresh or dried chile's or add fresh cracked pepper or cinnamon and sugar after the belly has cured.

cure recipe

1 C kosher salt

1/2 C sugar

5 teaspoons pink curing salt

mix well

Here's how to do it. Find yourself a pork belly. The recipe above should be enough to cure a 10 lb pork belly but you can obviously do less. In a baking dish or larger flat container put down a layer of the cure and dredge the pork belly in it or spinkle an even coat on it. If you are are going to use additional flavoring (maple syrup, garlic etc.) add now and seal in a larger zip lock bag and refrigerate for a week. You'll need to "overhaul" it or flip the belly over over other day to ensure the brine that the cure mixture is evenly coating the meat. Seven days later rinse the cure off the bacon and fry a little piece to taste. If it's too salty soak for a half hour, change the water and soak for another half hour. That should remove some of the unwanted salt.

If you don't have a smoker roast the belly in the oven @ 200 degrees until the meat gets to an internal temp of 150. Done. If you have a smoker or a grill that's capable of smoking do the same but be sure to keep the temp at 200 or under until it get to an internal of 150 degrees. Done.  What you have now is slab bacon and will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge, longer if you freeze it.