4 Baked Beans w/ Bacon + Bourbon

Not 4 beans.  

4 types of beans, but TYPE doesn't start with a B and also the title up there was getting kind of long and also baked beans wouldn't illustrate that we are working with FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEANS here so...just work with me.  

In other news, Jay and I have come to the conclusion that wedding weekends are hard, waking up at 5am to teach yoga after a wedding weekend is harder, and travelling two weekends in a row even for fun things is, wait for it, hard.  

We are DRAGGING this week, can't catch up on sleep no matter what we do.  And, clearly, the 5am wake ups don't help anything.  

BUT THESE BEANS.  I made them for Jay's dad's father's day, and they're really just perfect for this time of year.  An excellent side dish, ever so slightly different than a standard baked bean, and THE BOURBON.  Also bacon.  I have it in my head too that using green beans as one of the beans makes these super light, which is nice if you want to eat a whole vat of them.  Let's make beans!

Grab your ingredients first, and preheat the oven to 400F.  You need 4 cans of beans, any kind you like really, bacon, and bourbon.  Then, for flavor we've got tomato paste, onion, garlic, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, cayenne pepper, chicken stock, and brown sugar.  

First, cut the bacon into little bits and add it to a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir once the bacon starts to sizzle to separate the bits.  

While the bacon is working, chop the onion and mince the garlic.  

When the bacon is crispy, after about 7 minutes, add the onion to the bacon and bacon drippings.  

Cook the onion until it starts to turn translucent but not brown, then add the garlic.  

Cook the garlic for ONE MINUTE so it doesn't burn, then it's time for seasonings!  Bourbon...

Vinegar, spices, sugar, and tomato paste.  Yum!

Last, add the chicken stock to the skillet to form a sauce.  Let the mixture bubble and reduce for just  minute or so, then turn the sauce off while you get the beans ready.  

Drain about half of the bean juice from each can.  

Then dump the beans into a baking dish!  This is about the equivalent of an 8x8 square - you don't need something as big as 9.13.  

Make everything pretty by stirring the beans around to mix them evenly....

....then pour the sauce right over top.  Now, grab a spoon and taste the beans.  They won't be cooked or super delicious, but you should be able to tell if you'd like to add a sprinkle of salt or more cayenne before you bake the beans.  

Cover the dish with foil, bake for 1-2 hours until the beans are super soft and the sauce has thickened.  Don't worry about overcooking - just test the beans after one hour in the oven and keep baking them until you like the texture of the dish.  

Look how gorgeous!  I love the varied colors here, and the sauce is just to die for with the bourbon and spices and tang from the vinegar and tomato paste.  

Make these soon, and serve with your favorite barbecue meal!  Hint:  Mine includes this BBQ sauce that I'll show you next.  There's bourbon in there too.  

Enjoy!