Walnut Baked Beans
Last year, my cousin Gloria showed up at our homecoming reunion with a huge pan of baked beans topped with a layer of walnuts. Walnuts? Walnuts are my least favorite nut, and I’ve never seen them paired with baked beans. But Gloria is a fine home cook, so I asked her where she got the idea. “I dreamed it last night,” she said. I tried her beans, and those crispy, toasted walnuts added a lovely crunch to an old standby. By adding walnuts to beans, Gloria has given a delicious new meaning that old maxim: “Live your dreams.” I can’t wait to see what she “dreams up” for next year’s homecoming.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 12
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a large skillet or a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Sauté the onion in the bacon drippings over medium heat until it softens, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and chili powder and sauté for another minute. Crumble the bacon, and stir it into the onion-garlic mixture along with the baked beans and barbecue sauce. Cook over medium heat until the mixture simmers. If using a Dutch oven, top the beans with an even layer of walnuts. Otherwise, pour the beans from the skillet into a greased 17 by 12-inch ovenproof casserole and top with nuts. Bake, uncovered, until the beans are hot and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Serve the beans hot or at room temperature.
do it early
Step 2
Assemble and cook the beans without baking up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate. Sprinkle on the walnuts and bake the day you plan to serve.
tip
Step 3
When I don’t feel like making my own barbecue sauce, I turn to Stubbs Original Bar-B-Q Sauce, a tried-and-true Texas brand available across the country.
