Maple Baked Beans
If you prefer a spicier version just up the chilli flakes or add a chilli sauce to the table when serving.
Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Drain and rinse the beans. Place the beans, the onion, bay leaves and peppercorns in large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 50 minutes, or until tender. Drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid.
Preheat the oven to 225°F (105°C).
In a small pot, whisk together the sauce ingredients: maple syrup, brown sugar, ketchup, chilli flakes, salt, worcestire and Dijon mustard along with 2 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat for a few minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly.
Transfer the beans to a Dutch oven and mix in the bacon. Pour the sauce over the beans and stir then cover and place into the oven. Bake for 6 to 8 hours checking occasionally to make sure the beans have not dried out. (If necessary add more of the cooking liquid and continue to cook). Discard the bay leaf. Serve hot.
Andrea Stewart
It’s not surprising that three of Andrea Stewart’s favourite foods are bread, butter and champagne, since her approach to all things culinary has always been pure and simple. This experienced, creative and enterprising chef and editor approaches cooking and eating with a solid appreciation for fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Andrea’s journey with food began while living in France, working as an au pair for Grace Jones. While feeding the young offspring of the famous singer, she was tempted on a daily basis by the busy, colourful French food markets. Later on, she spent a summer at Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and fell in love all over again with everything France had to offer. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School and after completing her first year she headed to New York to further sharpen her skills, working alongside some of the finest (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and catering Martha Stewart’s executive meetings. Andrea returned to Toronto in 1996, and further immersed herself in her career, working at some of the city’s top food fixtures, including Mildred Pierce and Ace Bakery. She eventually took a side-step out of the kitchen and into the halls of magazine publishing, landing a position as Food Editor of Wish Magazine in 2004. While inspiring busy Canadian wonder-women to cook from scratch, she published her first cookbook, Wish, Market to Table. From street food to fine dining to unfamiliar grocery stores, food still motivates Andrea at every turn. She recently sold everything but a prized collection of cookbooks and moved to the U.K., where her culinary library spans the two floors of her London flat. She won’t rest until she has cooked from every one of them!