Flo’s Barbeque Beans
Submitted by: KAY LIBBUS
Their Food Story:
My mothers name was Florence but everyone called her Flo. We lived in a tiny town in Arkansas in town with no paved streets. Mama was a homemaker and my father ran a dry goods store
My father had built a great big barbeque pit in our yard (to prepare the chickens that we grew among other available meats) and had acquired the secret BBQ sauce recipe of some old person that he was sworn never to reveal. As a result he was considered somewhat of a BBQ savant in the family. In truth I don't think there was a lot of BBQ in Romania, Lithuania, and Hungary.
My parents and their siblings were first generation Jewish Americans with all their parents coming from Europe. We had an array of family around us ranging from 20 miles to 60 miles away and pretty much everyone managed to show up for Sunday BBQ during the summer.
Flo always served her famous Barbeque beans as one of the side dishes. My father insisted that there be no pork served in our house but he decided that ham and bacon were acceptable (go figure). Both my grandmothers kept kosher style homes so Flo certainly didn't get this recipe from the family.
She made this in a casserole but I have adapted it for the slow cooker. The recipe is very approximate.
Flo’s Barbeque Beans
Ingredients:
1/3 to 1/2 pound bacon
Chopped onions
4-6 cans of any one or combination of beans: lima, white, pinto, red, black, garbanzo, kidney
2 regular or 1 family size can of Campbell’s condensed cream of tomato soup
Brown sugar
Yellow mustard
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Instructions:
Chop roughly and fry 1/3 to ½ pound bacon (depending on how many beans you are using and how many relatives you are expecting). When the bacon is almost done throw in a couple of chopped onions and cook until onions are translucent.
In a separate bowl: Take 4-6 cans of any one or combination of beans. I use whatever I can find at home or at the store. White, Pinto, Red, Black, Garbanzos, Kidneys -- I usually throw in a bag of frozen Limas also. Drain the beans (unless you use a can or two of pork and beans in which case do not drain).
Add two regular or one family size can Campbell’s condensed cream of tomato soup (do you reconstitute soup). Add maybe half a cup of brown sugar and ¼ cup of yellow mustard. I also add black pepper and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (we like a bit of heat). Taste to see if you have enough brown sugar and mustard.
Next add the contents of the skillet – bacon, onion and fat to the bean mixture. You could drain the fat if you are feeling particularly virtuous.
Put the whole thing in the slow cooker and cook a couple of hours of high or a few more hours on low depending on how much of a hurry you are in.
I promise that your guests (at least the non-vegetarians) will suck these down. Enjoy!