Slow Cooker Berry Baked Beans for Crazy Ingredient Challenge February

It's another Crazy Ingredient Challenge and this month we're using strawberries and mustard!

This post was supposed to be about spring rolls dipped in a strawberry-mustard sweet and sour sauce. I was getting ready to make the wonton wrappers when I realised that I was running low on flour. I gathered my things to head to the supermarket and paused to return a recipe to an overflowing recipe box. A post-it note fell out of the box as I was stuffing the recipe in. I picked it up noticed that it was a recipe for slow cooker baked beans.

Light bulb moment!

I immediately ditched the spring rolls plan and ran to the kitchen to soak my beans. I am still craving those spring rolls but I do not regret switching to these baked beans. Not even a little bit. They were just that delicious. The strawberry preserves are subbed for the brown sugar in my old recipe. And as strange as it sounds, it just works. You definitely do not taste strawberries. You just taste that there is something different - pleasantly different.

Slow Cooker Berry Baked Beans

Recipe by:   Kelster

Yield: 9 4oz servings.

Ingredients 12oz dry Great Northern beans 1/2 small onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 4oz smoked jowl bacon, finely chopped ½ cup strawberry preserves ½ cup tomato sauce 1 tablespoon prepared mustard 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2  cup water

Directions Wash and sort the beans then soak them according to package directions.  After soaking, drain and place in slow cooker.  Top the beans with onions, garlic and bacon. In a small bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together then pour over beans. Stir the beans then cover and cook on low for 7 hours or until beans have reached the desired texture.

Notes Most of the liquid will be absorbed. If desired, add more water. I used Great Northern beans but any white bean can be used. I used smoked jowl bacon because that’s what I had on hand. Feel free to use your preferred bacon or smoked ham hock. You could also leave it out.

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