Old Timey New England Baked Beans

"Now roll that beautiful bean footage!"

This recipe is an authentic old fashioned New England-style baked beans recipe, passed down to me from my mother, who got it from her grandmother. Boston's epithet of "Beantown" is a testament to the importance and long history of baked beans in the region, and my mother's family has lived in the North Shore of the Boston metro for generations. I did have to make some modifications to the recipe to make it vegan, as the original makes heavy use of salt pork. I also made it in my slow cooker instead of actually baking it in the oven.

A scanned copy of the original non-vegan recipe as it appears in my mom's recipe book.

Ingredients:
- 453 grams beans (I use Great Northern)
-5 C water (or really, enough water to cover dry beans)
-¼ C olive oil
-2 C veggie broth
-2 tsp mustard (yellow or dijon)
-1 onion, quartered and sliced
-¼ C molasses
-¼ C brown sugar
-2 Tbs sweet pickle juice
-1 tsp salt
-½ tsp liquid smoke

To make:
1. Soak the beans in water, covered, overnight.
2. The next day, drain the beans and add the olive oil to the bottom of the slow cooker. Add beans, broth, and all other ingredients. Cook on low, covered, for 6 hours.
3. Remove cover, cook another half hour. Let cool and serve or store.

Served with Veggie Dog and homemade purple kraut and homemade French bread toast.