Always a staple at our house.  It’s so delicious.

6 cups water
3 cups navy beans

Bring beans to a boil in a 4 quart oven proof Dutch oven, turn down heat and let simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand for 1 hour.

Meanwhile: Preheat oven to 350

Add to bean and water mixture the following ingredients:

1 large onion - sliced
6 cloves garlic - minced
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cups Splenda or molasses – I use Splenda because Charlie is a diabetic. You can use molasses.
I don’t like the taste of molasses so I would use more brown sugar.
1 smoked pork hock
2 T Tomato paste
5 Bay leaves
1 quart chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper

Stir well, cover and place in oven.

After 3 hours, take off cover. Taste. Chances are, the beans are still pretty tough but you’ve got plenty of liquid. Continue to cook in oven, uncovered, until the beans are soft and you have just the right amount of liquid left. (Think Libby’s canned beans, to give you an idea). If you need to add more liquid, add some chicken broth. 

Remove the hock bone. Discard skin. (Actually, I like the skin.  It’s as soft as you please and, when you chop it up real fine, who’s going to know it’s skin?) Cut up rest of meat into cubes and return to the beans. This is wonderful on its own with some lovely bread and a salad. You can also serve it with wieners or frankfurters. You may never want to eat steak again.

Tags: beans, chicken broth, hock, navy, pork

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