Have Your Cake and Read it Too {7}

Have Your Cake and Read it Too is a bi-weekly (well, you know, it's supposed to be. I'm working on it.) feature that will take a book and pair it with a food whether it be savory or sweet.

Book

Since the beginning of mankind, civilizations have fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs...and now us. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening: An ancient evil has been unleashed, and it's turning everyday people into hunters, killers, and crazies. This is the world Mason, Aries, Clementine, and Michael are living in--or rather, trying to survive. Each is fleeing unspeakable horror, from murderous chaos to brutal natural disasters, and each is traveling the same road in a world gone mad. Amid the throes of the apocalypse and clinging to love and meaning wherever it can be found, these four teens are on a journey into the heart of darkness--and to find each other and a place of safety.

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Okay, I know you're probably looking at this right now going "baked beans and....whaaaa?" but it totally makes sense! So, it would actually work in most apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic scenario. Generally The Big Scary Thing happens and then the world starts going to crap: no electricity, nobody doing there job meaning no more goods being manufactured, having to go on the run or hole up in a shelter -- the usual. What happens then? Canned foods become the only reliable food source for a while and beans are a pretty common. See, I told you it would all come together.

Recipe

Baked Beans

Original recipe from The Woodside Kitchen and modified by me.

Ingredients

2 cups dried navy beans

1 small onion, minced (maybe I haven't told you guys this before, but there will never, ever be onions in any of my recipes. I cannot and will not eat them.)

3 tablespoons molasses

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (You'll probably want to do a little more since mine weren't tangy enough.)

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1/2 cup ketchup (I'm not a fan of using ketchup as an ingredient, so I used 2 tbs. tomato paste, but it in a measuring cup, then filled it with water to the 1/2 cup mark.)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (I used a little more since I didn't use ketchup, but it still needed more since mine weren't sweet enough. Maybe a 1/2 cup?)

Directions

I'm really not a food photographer,
but I wanted you all to see my results and
 I'd rather use my own pics.

Soak the beans overnight in a large pot covered with cold water. In the morning, drain and rinse the beans. In a large pot combine the soaked beans,  minced onion, and enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches. (You're probably going to want a little more water since mine all boiled away.) Bring the beans to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours until tender, the skin of a bean will break when you blow on it. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pour the whole pot of beans including liquid into a bean pot or large dutch oven. (Since I don't have either of these I just tossed them in my crock pot.) Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover the pot with a lid or tin foil and bake (I cooked them on high for about 2 hours then moved the setting to low for aother 4.) for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Take a peak to make sure there is always enough liquid to cover the beans, adding water if necessary. During the last hour remove the lid and continue baking, this allows any extra water to evaporate. (Hah, my sauce was plenty thick, especially since all the moisture was trapped inside. I'd rather it was thinner anyway.) Leaving you with a thick sauce and amazing baked beans.