I found this recipe on the Hackett's Orchards' website. Hackett's Orchards is on South Hero island (Vermont) in the northern part of Lake Champlain. Their cider doughnuts are out-of-this-world, especially when enjoyed on an early fall morning along with a hot apple cider! We first encountered Hackett's as part of the South Hero Apple Festival in early October when Liz was a freshman at UVM. Amidst a lot of "arts and crafts" and "antiques", Hacketts was the real thing... The Allenholm Farm just down the street is also good... their farm stand was just a bit more crowded when we first visited during the Apple Festival.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb yellow-eye beans
1/2 lb salt pork or bacon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 medium onion
1 -1 1/2 c maple syrup (dark amber
or B grade)
1 tsp dry mustard, or 1 Tbsp prepared
Cover beans with generous amount of cold water.
Add soda, soak overnight.
Next morning drain off water and cover with fresh water.
Parboil until skins split when bean is blown on.
Drain, saving liquid.
Place all ingredients in beanpot or crockpot with onion on bottom and pork or bacon on top.
Cover with saved water.
Bake at 325° for 6 to 8 hours. You may have to add more water as they cook.
I rarely share a recipe before I've used it, but I took a chance on this one and e-mailed it to our friend Doug when I first came across it. I know Doug likes baked beans sweetened with maple syrup (see "Maple Cider Baked Beans"), so I hoped he'd like it. My hunch was right... Doug says these beans are "Scrumptious...... really outstanding."
Yellow eyes are about my favorite bean... well worth the hunt to find them. They seem to be a New England item (like Marshmallow Fluff), but perhaps they're available outside New England as well?
I will double this recipe since my beanpot is large and holds 2 pounds of beans... and somehow, although I always mean to freeze some for later, homemade baked beans are so good that we nearly always finish them up!