Recipe: Chez Goo Goo Brooklyn Baked Beans (using fruit juice and coffee)

BROOKLYN BAKED BEANS

"Over-the-top baked beans from Brooklyn's Chez Goo Goo restaurant were served at a pig roast held by Slow Food. Cooks Shirvonne Metcalf and John LaPorte, who work with chef Gerard McCormick, said they sneaked some duck fat into the batch of beans they brought to the barbecue, but the boldly flavored beans, seasoned with bacon, coffee and fruit juice, are wonderful even without it."

1 1/2 pounds dried navy beans, rinsed and soaked overnight in water to cover
1 pound smoked bacon, coarsely chopped
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Tabasco
1 cup orange juice, divided use
1 cup pineapple juice, divided use
1 cup black coffee, divided use
2 cups chicken stock, divided use

Rinse soaked beans and place in large pan with enough fresh water to cover. Cook, covered, over medium heat for an hour or until tender. When beans are done, drain and discard cooking liquid.

While the beans cook, saute bacon in a skillet until lightly browned, remove and set aside, then lightly saute the chopped onions in the remaining bacon fat until translucent. Remove onions and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine maple syrup, molasses, pepper, mustard, ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, Tabasco, 1/2 cup of the orange juice, 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice, 1/2 cup of the coffee and 1 cup of the stock. Cook over medium heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine remaining juices, coffee and stock; set aside.

Combine the cooked beans, sauce, onions and bacon in an ovenproof baking dish or bean pot.

Cover tightly with foil or lid and bake 6 to 8 hours, checking from time to time and stirring in some of the additional liquid mixture as needed. Taste for seasoning near the end of the cooking time and add salt if needed. If the mixture has not cooked down enough, remove lid or foil about 1 hour before end of cooking time. (The bacon will have seasoned the beans with salt to some extent.)

Makes 8 to 10 servings
Source: Newsday, December 26, 2001