Jacquie Lycka is an experienced blogger and cooking enthusiast. From her 1950's styled kitchen in Parkallen, "a rockin’ locally minded community" in Alberta, Canada, she shares her favorite recipes and instructions for hearty meals and a few choice desserts. From Italian pasta dishes to Thai curries, one thing can be said of all her dishes: delicious.
This post was originally published on Parkallen Home Kitchen at parkallenhomekitchen.com.
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In honor of sugar month (Les temps des sucres au Quebec), I decided to make one of the most traditional French Canadian dishes, to celebrate my heritage. Live local Alberta’s Eat Local Firstinitiative were very generous to my endeavor and provided almost all of the local ingredients for this meal.
Local and sustainable, Irvings Farm Fresh’s Back Bacon slices are dry-cured and un-smoked. They were such tasty, thick pieces of bacon that it was very hard for Justin and I not to eat them right out of the pan, without giving them a chance to go into the recipe. Wow. This is high quality bacon. If you’re a bacon lover, you’ll find it hard to go back to the thin pieces from the grocery store…
Did you know that you can get locally grown and dried beans in Alberta? Yea, I didn’t know that either!Eat Local First sells beans and seeds from Columbia Seed Company, where you can purchase chickpeas, as well as black, red, and white beans!
The recipe was actually really simple, and didn’t take much more than the beans, the bacon and this onion.
I let the beans soak overnight in the crockpot. Warning! They will double in size when left soaking. Strangely, some of the beans didn’t expand in the first soak. This was because the larger ones choked out the smaller ones, not letting them expand. You may want to put all the beans in a larger bowl (or two separate bowls) and add double the amount of water, so that all the beans are able to absorb it!
I let the beans cook on low for 10 hrs while I was at work, and ta da! Don’t they look amazing?
We served the beans with a locally made, scrumptious organic whole wheat pita from Happy Camel (one of these days, I will do an entire post just for Happy Camel. I have the biggest Happy Camel addiction!!)
They went from freezer to toaster and ready to eat in 2 minutes. Hmm… Happy Camel…
Enjoy! This dish reminded me of the community league Cabanne a Sucres from my childhood. Delicious!
Jacquie’s French Canadian Crock Pot Baked Beans
Ingredients:
2 cups red and white beans (measured prior to soaking)
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 lb bacon (sliced small)
1 medium onions (chopped) or 1 large onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (chopped or sliced)
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups red and white beans (measured prior to soaking)
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 lb bacon (sliced small)
1 medium onions (chopped) or 1 large onion (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (chopped or sliced)
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
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Instructions:
1. Soak 2 cups of bean in water over night, or in the morning. The beans must have soaked a minimum of 6 hours. For those who have never soaked beans, pour the beans in to a bowl and cover beans with water. Water should be at lease 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch above beans. This allows beans to absorb enough water with out getting dry.
2. Strain and pour the beans in the crockpot. Slice your bacon I use scissors if it is completely unthawed medium to thin slices. Chop onions to your preferred size I like Medium, and chop garlic. Add to the beans.
3. Pour water into a bowl and mix remaining ingredients in the water and stir. Pour over beans and mix well.
4. Cover turn on LOW and cook 8 to 10 hours. DO NOT LIFT THE LID, only when it is close to the end of cooking time. Take a test and see if you like the texture, if not cook for remainder time.
1. Soak 2 cups of bean in water over night, or in the morning. The beans must have soaked a minimum of 6 hours. For those who have never soaked beans, pour the beans in to a bowl and cover beans with water. Water should be at lease 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch above beans. This allows beans to absorb enough water with out getting dry.
2. Strain and pour the beans in the crockpot. Slice your bacon I use scissors if it is completely unthawed medium to thin slices. Chop onions to your preferred size I like Medium, and chop garlic. Add to the beans.
3. Pour water into a bowl and mix remaining ingredients in the water and stir. Pour over beans and mix well.
4. Cover turn on LOW and cook 8 to 10 hours. DO NOT LIFT THE LID, only when it is close to the end of cooking time. Take a test and see if you like the texture, if not cook for remainder time.
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