Skillet Beans & Wieners

   

When I was growing up Saturday night was always baked bean night. Mom used to make her own baked beans most of the time. She would soak the dried beans over night in cold water.

Early in the morning she would be parboiling the soaked beans on top of the stove. She always added a pinch of baking soda to the water.  I am not sure why, but I can remember them foaming up and she would skim off the foam and then discard it.

(I just looked it up and it is thought that adding soda to the beans makes them less gassy, or takes out the snap as mom would say!)

She would declare them ready to bake when she blew on a couple and the skins split.  The parboiled beans would then be put into her stone bean baking crock.

To them she would add molasses, brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Enough of the soaking/boiling water would also be added so that they were just covered.  

A whole onion, peeled would be pushed down into them and then salt pork laid over the top. 

 

These would bake in a slow oven all day.  As the day wore on you could smell them baking and the smell was gorgeous. 

About an hour before they were finished, she would take them out of the oven and mash a cup full of the beans, stirring them back into the crock.  This thickened them.

 

 

You could not ask for a more delicious supper.  With brown bread, sometimes ham, sometimes wieners.  We didn't care, either or.

If we were having wieners she would fry them in butter. Oh my but the two things were so fabulous together.  To this day I still adore having beans with wieners.  (Also known as frankfurters or hotdogs.)

 

These days I am not likely to bake myself a whole crock of beans however.  With there only being me in the house, it just isn't practical. It is something I might do when my family comes to visit, but not when its just me.

That doesn't mean that I can't still enjoy the odd baked bean supper and this recipe for Skillet Beans & Wieners is a great way to do that!  Its simple and delicious, and goes together lickety split!  The original recipe fed six people and so I cut it in half to feed only three.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SKILLET BEANS & WIENERS

There is nothing complicated about this.

• 1 can (16 ounce/420g) baked beans
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 slices streaky bacon, chopped
• 4 hotdogs/wieners/frankfurters cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 TBS tomato ketchup
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 2 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp canola oil

 

I like to freeze my bacon in single slices. I roll each slice up and place them next to each other in a zip lock baggie before putting them into the freezer. Ready to take out, one or two at a time, and then chop while still frozen.  Its easy.

If you are in the UK, chances are you are using beans in tomato sauce. In that case add a TBS of dark treacle to the mix. 

Also if your beans are really liquid-y, I would drain away some of the liquid. You don't want the end result to be too soupy.

 

Today I used a can of Bush's Baked Beans with Pork. Mom used to buy Grave's beans when she bought baked beans, but I bought a can a few months back and they were not the Grave's baked beans I was used to.  I do not recommend. (Sorry, just saying.)

I am also a bit fussy when it comes to wieners or hotdogs. I like the all beef ones. I don't really like chicken dogs or cheap hotdogs and I abhor Larsen's which is a brand name you can get here.  They smell like socks, and not clean ones. (Again, just saying.) 

 

HOW TO MAKE SKILLET BEANS & WEINERS

Its not rocket science, and you might not even need a recipe, but if you do it this way, it is mighty good.

You might question the use of a bit of oil when there is fat on the bacon and in the hotdogs, but trust me, you do need a little bit of it as it helps to prevent the bacon, onions and wieners from sticking to the pan.

 

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and bacon.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Add the cut up wieners and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the wieners are starting to brown.

 

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce to a slow simmer and continue to cook for about 25 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Serve hot, spooned onto warm plates with your favorite sides!  On this day I enjoyed mine with some scalloped potatoes and crusty bread.

I can tell you however that corn bread and coleslaw are also really wonderful with this meal.  And, even though it is meant for a small batch, as a singleton there will be leftovers, but no worries. This is fabulous reheated the next day with some toast for another simple supper or lunch.

 

You know it really is often the small  things in life which bring us the most pleasure, and this simple supper is a real single or family pleaser. To feed six people, simply double the amounts of everything.

The heart wants what the heart wants sometimes you know, and on this day my heart wanted this. I was very content with this simple meal.

Skillet Beans & Wieners (small batch)

Yield: 3

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min

A quick and easy meal to prepare on busy days. I like to serve it with scalloped potatoes, bread and butter, but coleslaw and cornbread are also favorite go-withs!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce/420g) tin of baked beans, undrained
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 slices of bacon diced
• 4 smoked frankfurters (wieners) cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 TBS tomato ketchup
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 2 TBS soft light brown sugar
• 2 tsp canola oil

Instructions

1. Place the oil into a medium sized skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the bacon and onions.
2. Cook, stirring frequently, until they have started to lightly brown. Add the wieners. Continue to cook, until most of the wieners are lightly browned.
3. Add the baked beans, ketchup, mustard and brown sugar. Mix well together. Reduce the heat to low.
4. Simmer for 25 minutes or so, until slightly thickened. Serve hot.

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