HICKORY SWEET SPICY SMOKEY OAK BAKED BBQ BEANS

Sweet Spicy Hickory Smokey with a hint of oak slow baked BBQ beans...

It was one of those moments when I took the first mouthful of these BBQ beans and I was immediately transported back to the old disused gas station parking lot of Nancy's BBQ in Sarasota FL.  It has taken me months to try and re-create the North Carolina flavours of Nancy's smoke house BBQ beans and I think these are darn close from my memory.

  

Prep Time 24 hrs Soaking / Cooking Time 4 hrs

Ingredients

(makes 8 portions)

Slow Braised Baby Back Ribs

2 ribs, skin off

1 ltr coke

1/2 cup bbq spice

1 bag Hickory wood chips or

1 tbsp liquid smoke

400g Black beans soaked for 24hrs

200g smoked sweetcure bacon diced

1 glug olive oil

1 onion finely diced

1/2 green pepper finely diced

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

500ml tomato ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Pre heat your oven 200 degrees C or 390 F or wood fired oven, I like to cook my ribs in the wood fired oven for a more authentic hickory smokey flavour, but you can also cook them in the oven with the substitute of liquid smoke.  Place all the rib ingredients in a shallow baking tin and cover with the coke, pop in the oven un covered for the first 45 minutes to infuse the smokey flavour then cover with a lid and cook for a further 1 hrs 15 minutes or until you can easily pull the bones off the meat, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the cooking juices.

It is vital you soak you black beans in plenty of cold water for at least 18 hrs and change the water at least once.  Heat a deep saucepan that can go in the oven to medium hot, add the olive oil and onions and gently soften for approx 10 minutes then add the sweetcure bacon and green peppers and cook for a further 10 minutes then add 2 cups of the rib cooking juices and the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine you want a loose soupy consistency, pop the pan in the oven and bake for around 2 hrs or until the consistency is medium thick and BBQ Bean gorgeousness.

Remove the rib meat from the bones and shred, add to the beans and season with sea salt and pepper then taste, you can adjust the intensity of the BBQ flavour by playing with the tomato ketchup, brown sugar and white wine vinegar if you want too making your choice of North Carolina with more vinegar or Texas style with more brown sugar and ketchup, then enjoy.