Baked Beans With Bacon

Photo: flickr user smudie

Ingredients

1 pound small white beans, such as navy beans

6 slc thick-cut smoked bacon

1 lrg yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup dark molasses

cup dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Wash and sort beans, discarding any stones and shriveled beans. Cover with cold water and let soak overnight. To cook, discard water and place beans in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Cover with more cold water and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, about 35 to 40 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Add a pinch of baking soda to beans if you have hard water - this will make skins tender. Drain, reserving water.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Fry bacon almost crisp. Remove bacon and reserve 3 tablespoons of drippings in skillet. Drain and coarsely chop bacon and set aside. Saute chopped onion in reserved drippings over medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes. In a 2 1/2-quart bean pot or casserole, combine beans and onions. Gently stir in 2 cups reserved bean water, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours or until desired consistency, stirring occasiona