Honey Barbecue Baked Beans : IHCC

It's Esta Rojo! at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week. It's all about red and shades of red, where we are cooking from Rick Bayless's recipes until end of September.

I have been cooking for the past five months plus now, from Rick Bayless's recipes and only realized that Rick Bayless is an American and not a Mexican! I was really, really surprised, as I have always thought of him as a Mexican guy! I was busy sourcing for his delicious recipes, when it suddenly hit me, that I know next to nothing at all about him, and I only watched two or three of his shows. So I googled for more info and was really surprised to find out that he was born in Oklahoma and his family has no roots at all in Mexico. You may read more about him from Wikipedia.

Since this week's theme is "red", I decided to make Chipotle Honey Barbecued Baked Beans which I  have bookmarked for months. I bought a can of Pinto beans for this recipe months ago. The recipe calls for smoked bacon, but since I do not have that, I use canned luncheon meat, I know it is not the same, but it tastes just as delicious when baked together with the beans. Besides, luncheon meat is great with canned  baked beans in tomato sauce. This recipe also calls for Chipotle Hot Sauce, but I just use what I had, a small bottle of my homemade Rick Bayless Hot Sauce, which I made months ago, and just great for this recipe.

The luncheon meat, onions and red bell pepper are stir-fried, then the rest of the ingredients are added in. I made half a recipe, using only one can of pinto beans and I find that I needed to use the full amount of honey, just adjust to your taste accordingly. And since I do not have a dutch oven, I used a baking dish to bake the beans in the oven. It took about  1-1/4 hours for the sauce to thicken.

And the result is a delicious bowl of baked beans!

Love the vibrant deep rich colour! All the flavours came through really yummy. It is mildly spicy, my son commented on that, but he finished a small bowl, saying that it was good. I served this with another of Rick Bayless's yummies, but that's for another week!

Yum!

I'll be visiting my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to see other delicious "Red" yummies from Rick Bayless's wonderful recipes, come join me and see what the others have came up with, who knows, you might just be inspired to try on some Mexican cooking!

I'm sharing this with :

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

 Chipotle Honey Barbecue Baked Beans
(source from : Fronterafiesta, Rick Bayless)
4 thick slices smoked bacon, diced ( I use luncheon meat)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
3 tablespoons Frontera Chipotle Hot Sauce (I use my homemade RB Hot Sauce)
3 tablespoons honey
1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon salt
3 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook bacon, red pepper and onion in small Dutch oven or ovenproof saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until onion is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in 2 cups water, tomato paste, hot sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Mix well. Stir in the beans. Bake, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are nicely glazed and pan juices thickened, about 1 hour. Serve hot.

Notes : These beans are best when made a day or two in advance and then reheated before serving. Reheat in a 350 degrees oven about 45 minutes.