Pork n’ Beans

Such a classic combination.

Of course, we really like the bean part, better. Actually, we’d prefer the beans sans-pork.  You see, we’re not really pork people.  We don’t like bacon, and we find pork often has just too much blubber, even the lean cuts.

But then, we had a brain-wave! What’s the best way to have meat? In a burger, of course!

A Pork n’ Beans burger. De-ee-licious!

First, let’s talk about the beans. They were sweet, savoury, tangy and rich, while still being entirely healhy, not full of the added salt and sugar of canned baked beans.  They were so buttery tasting, it was heaven! Not to mention they are really easy to make. Toss everything in the slow cooker at noon and you’ve got delicious beans by dinner.

These were so friggin delicious- we wished we had made at least a quadruple batch of them!  We’re pretty certain that we could’ve polished off four times the amount we made between just the two of us.  They were that good.

Slow-Cooker “Baked” Beans

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: ~4hrs

Ingredients:

1 can Romano Beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 c. crushed tomatoes (we used no-salt added)

1/4 c. molasses

2 1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Worchester Sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Put all ingredients into the slow cooker and stir to mix evenly.  Cook for 2 hours on high and then 2 hours on low.

And now to the burgers!

Oh baby! Now this is how pork should be eaten.

Stacked up…

Squished down!

As it is obvious, we enjoyed these burgers pool-side. Is there really any other way to have a burger in the summer?

These burgers are great because they are purely meat and beans, with some extra ingredients for flavour. No eggs, no breadcrumbs. We are able to do this because of the same burger trick that we used when we made the Curry Burgers. With this trick, our burgers never fall apart on the grill! The trick? Blend half of the meat (and beans, in this case) in the food processor, making a paste-like mixture that acts like glue to keep the burgers together.  You then add the rest of the meat and slightly mashed up beans to the paste by hand.

   

We weighed the batter, and figured out that using 2lbs of ground pork and one can of beans, each patty should weigh 5.5 – 5.6 ounces.

This gave us ten big, delicious burgers. Leftovers, anyone?

Topped with our “baked” beans, ladies and gentlemen, this is summer at it’s absolute finest.  It really doesn’t get better than this- unless, of course, the meal ended with something chocolate… which may have happened 😉

Omnomnomnom

Good to the last bite.

Pork n’ Bean Burgers

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 10

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground pork

1 can Romano Beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp worchester sauce

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 clove garlic

Directions:

In the food processor, blend 1 lb of ground pork, 2/3 of the can of beans, the molasses, worchester, maple syrup, and garlic until you have a sticky paste.

In a large bowl, slightly mash up the remaining beans.  Add the other pound of pork, along with the meat and bean mixture and mix together with your hands.

Form into patties (ours weighed 5.5-5.6 oz each)

Grill on low for 45 minutes, or until cooked through. Top with slow-cooker baked beans, and any other toppings you desire!

~twosaucysisters

Do you like pork and beans? What’s your favourite  way to eat them?