Soup of the Day: Spokane Beans

Hello friends, I’m Dana from MADE.
And I’ve got to be honest….we don’t eat a lot of soup at our house.  Maybe because we hail from Austin, TX where it’s summertime most of the year?  But I really only make one soup: Potato, Broccoli, and Sweet Corn with bacon on top (of course).

So.
When Delia asked me to share a soup, I wracked my brain, and asked friends for input, and finally came up with a soup-ish recipe to share….

This recipe comes from my good friend Katherine, who got it from her Grandma, who got it from their good friends in Spokane, Washington.  It’s one of those tried-and-true-and-shared dishes.
And it probably works best as a side-dish.  But it’s very much like chili.  Super chunky and super yummy.  So on a cold night, throw it together with some cornbread, a side of apples, and you’re set!

SPOKANE BEANS
Serves 8
1 pound bacon cooked, drained, and broken into pieces
1 pound ground lean meat (turkey or beef or pork. I used turkey)
2 cans Butter Beans, drained (16 0z size)
1 can Kidney Beans, drained (15.5 oz size)
1 can Original Baked Beans, any brand, NOT drained (28 oz size)
1 medium white onion, grated
1 tsp dry mustard
1 Tbl Dijon mustard (or brown mustard)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 1/3 cup ketchup
1 to 1 1/3 cups brown sugar (If you’re serving this as a main dish start with 1 cup of sugar and add more if needed. You don’t want it to be too sweet.  As a side dish, however, it’s nice to add more sugar for a sweeter taste)

Okay, start by cooking your bacon in a dutch oven pan, or other pot.
While that’s crackling, prepare the other items.

Here’s another piece of honesty for you: I don’t like onions.  Yes, they add good flavor to the dish….but I I don’t like to bite into a huge onion chunk in my food cause then I taste it the rest of the day.  So, I choose to grate onions.  AND I prefer wearing latex gloves so I don’t smell it on my hands as well.

When your bacon is done cooking, remove the pieces, drain most of the grease and toss in your onions.  Saute for a couple minutes, then add the ground meat and cook till browned.  Drain any excess grease from the pan.

While the meat cooks, open the cans of beans, drain the Butter and Kidney beans but leave the Baked beans as they are.   Finally, throw all the beans and other ingredients (mustards, ketchup, vinegar, sugar) in the pot with the meat mixture.  Mix together and cook, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
If you don’t have a dutch oven pan to bake it in, just pour it into a 9×13 baking dish.

And voila.  Spokane Beans!
They only taste better with Sweet Corn Bread on the side.

Now set the table and let’s scoop in.

Enjoy!
Thanks Delia for having me!