Last summer we went to my Aunt’s ranch for a mini family reunion. One night we had a catered dinner where we ate some very delicious beans. My mom has tried duplicating the recipe. Paula Deen’s Southern Baked Beans does not have all the same elements as the ones we loved, but we thought it looked great to give a try.
The ingredients are very simple. Little Chef D diced the onion with our Vidalia Chop Wizard. I love how fast this tool is, but it is not very easy for her to use. I took over and she said, “Does that hurt your hand?” You have to hit it very hard to dice and it sounds like it should hurt. Canned pork and beans were combined with the onion, mustard, ketchup, maple syrup, lemon juice and brown sugar. She said, “This smells so good, I love it!”

The entire mixture was stirred together. Little Chef D said, “This will be good!” Bacon was chopped into smallish pieces and placed on top. Now it was ready to cook in the oven for about an hour.

 

Little Chef A said, “It is a bit too sweet for me. They are cooked properly, but I do not like the flavoring that much.”
Little Chef C said, “I really like the flavoring because it is really good and it tastes like beans. I want a little more of something else so it tastes like something else as well.”
Little Chef D said, “I really don’t like it.”
I really liked the sauce combination with the ketchup, mustard, maple syrup and bacon. I would love to play around with the rest and half the onion and switch out the beans with a few different types.

Southern Baked Beans

By Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 (16-ounce) cans pork and beans
• 3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 pound bacon strips, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions