Beer Baked White Beans

This recipe is another dish acquired from The Bitten Word blog and after having had success with black beans, and reading the blog author's own reviews for these beans, I really wanted to give it a try. Additionally, Brit and I bought a huge dutch oven in April to cook brisket and I've really wanted to use it again soon.

Beer Baked White Beans
(adapted from The Bitten Word blog entry)

Serves 5-6

1 lb dried white beans
6 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp honey
1 sprig rosemary
2 12 oz bottles Belgian-style white ale (we used Blue Moon)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp cider vinegar

Soak the beans overnight or for the entire day in a lot of water. Drain and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy and browned. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the mustard and honey and cook for 1 minute. Add in the rosemary, beans, beer, broth, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and transfer to the oven.

Bake until the beans are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 2 hours. After two hours, the beans were tender, but there was still a good amount of liquid left to be absorbed. I was cooking this dish a day in advance, so I let it sit out and cool over night. The day of the meal, I tried to let as much of the liquid get absorbed/evaporate as I could by re-heating the beans over low heat for 30 minutes. Then, season to taste with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Serve with the cooked bacon.

We served the beans over cous cous that had been seasoned with curry and cumin and topped the dish with wilted spinach that had been cooked with garlic and onion. Overall, the meal was a success, but we ultimately decided we liked the cuban black beans a lot better. Black beans just have a better flavor to them.