This is based on a recipe published in 1828 but reportedly from the 18th century.
The original reads thus:
BEANS AND BACON
When you dress beans and bacon, boil them separate, for the bacon will spoil the color of the beans. Always throw some salt in the water, and some parsley nicely picked. When the beans are enough, which you will know by their being tender, throw them into a cullender to drain. Take up the bacon, and skim it, throw some rasping of bread over the top; and if you have an iron, make it red and hot, and hold it over to brown the top of the bacon; if you have not one, set it before the fire to brown. Lay the beans in the dish, and the bacon in the middle on the top, and send them to the table with parsley and butter in a bason.
I think the cooking directions are for heavily salted, dry cured bacon. This would account for boiling of the bacon, and then browning it. The type of beans used is unknown as well, but as the recipe mentions the color, I am guessing they were something like our pale white “navy” beans of today. (How would you harm the color of red beans or black beans, eh?)
Adapted for today's kitchen:
BEANS and BACON (for the table)
One pound navy beans
¼ pound thick sliced bacon
Salt
A bunch of Parsley
1 stick of unsalted butter
½ cup of plain bread crumbs
Boil the beans in the pot with water and a little salt and a sprig of the parsley. Boil until tender. You may need to add water, and boiling of beans may take a couple of hours or more. Drain the water off in a colander when done
Dice up the bacon and fry it up. Pour off the grease.
Place the beans in a serving dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the beans.
Add the bacon sprinkled over the top of the bread crumbs.
Wash the parsely and finely chop it up. Melt the butter and mix in the parsley, and add this to a gravy boat. Serve the beans in the serving dish, with the butter/parsley in the gravy boat on the side.
That's it for serving at one's table, and I tried to stay very close to the original in its presentation. I found that if you save three tablespoons of the bacon grease, and add three tablespoons of melted butter to that, plus the chopped parsley, and gently toss the bacon and the butter/grease/parley with the beans, then cover with the breadcrumbs, (omitting the butter parsely in the gravy boat on the side) the dish is better. I haven't tried "seasoned" bread crumbs either, but that might work well if one needed to use less fat (butter/grease).
Bacon and Beans (from The Pack)
One pound navy beans
¼ pound of dry cured bacon, uncut
Salt
Cayenne pepper
¼ of a round loaf of bread, stale if possible
Water
A large covered kettle
a large piece of cheesecloth
a sharp knife
Dice up the bacon small, and then boil in water in the kettle, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain off that water, and replace it. Boil the bacon for another 15 minutes (cooks it and pulls out the salt.), and drain. Place into a bowl and set aside.
In the large kettle, place the beans and a large amount of water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cover (this saves water). Check the water level as the beans will soak it up; keep the beans covered in water. Cook until tender. You may use the lid, but in a large pot the steam when you drain is often troublesome for the cook, and the lid can get hot very fast. So, you can cover the opening with the cheesecloth, and you should be able to drain the beans.
Slice the bread, and toast it hard while the beans cook.
When the beans are done and strained, add the bacon to the kettle, toss gently. Salt and cayenne to taste, then crumble the toasted bread into crumbs, and again gently toss. Serve.
This tries to be as minimal as possible though providng a good dish, something for a "primitive" camp rather than a trek but not out of possibilities for say a "final meal" as a long trek winds down...., and although the salt is pulled out of the bacon, there is enough fat left in the bacon for good calories for outdoor activities.
LD
The original reads thus:
BEANS AND BACON
When you dress beans and bacon, boil them separate, for the bacon will spoil the color of the beans. Always throw some salt in the water, and some parsley nicely picked. When the beans are enough, which you will know by their being tender, throw them into a cullender to drain. Take up the bacon, and skim it, throw some rasping of bread over the top; and if you have an iron, make it red and hot, and hold it over to brown the top of the bacon; if you have not one, set it before the fire to brown. Lay the beans in the dish, and the bacon in the middle on the top, and send them to the table with parsley and butter in a bason.
I think the cooking directions are for heavily salted, dry cured bacon. This would account for boiling of the bacon, and then browning it. The type of beans used is unknown as well, but as the recipe mentions the color, I am guessing they were something like our pale white “navy” beans of today. (How would you harm the color of red beans or black beans, eh?)
Adapted for today's kitchen:
BEANS and BACON (for the table)
One pound navy beans
¼ pound thick sliced bacon
Salt
A bunch of Parsley
1 stick of unsalted butter
½ cup of plain bread crumbs
Boil the beans in the pot with water and a little salt and a sprig of the parsley. Boil until tender. You may need to add water, and boiling of beans may take a couple of hours or more. Drain the water off in a colander when done
Dice up the bacon and fry it up. Pour off the grease.
Place the beans in a serving dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the beans.
Add the bacon sprinkled over the top of the bread crumbs.
Wash the parsely and finely chop it up. Melt the butter and mix in the parsley, and add this to a gravy boat. Serve the beans in the serving dish, with the butter/parsley in the gravy boat on the side.
That's it for serving at one's table, and I tried to stay very close to the original in its presentation. I found that if you save three tablespoons of the bacon grease, and add three tablespoons of melted butter to that, plus the chopped parsley, and gently toss the bacon and the butter/grease/parley with the beans, then cover with the breadcrumbs, (omitting the butter parsely in the gravy boat on the side) the dish is better. I haven't tried "seasoned" bread crumbs either, but that might work well if one needed to use less fat (butter/grease).
Bacon and Beans (from The Pack)
One pound navy beans
¼ pound of dry cured bacon, uncut
Salt
Cayenne pepper
¼ of a round loaf of bread, stale if possible
Water
A large covered kettle
a large piece of cheesecloth
a sharp knife
Dice up the bacon small, and then boil in water in the kettle, covered, for 15 minutes. Drain off that water, and replace it. Boil the bacon for another 15 minutes (cooks it and pulls out the salt.), and drain. Place into a bowl and set aside.
In the large kettle, place the beans and a large amount of water, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cover (this saves water). Check the water level as the beans will soak it up; keep the beans covered in water. Cook until tender. You may use the lid, but in a large pot the steam when you drain is often troublesome for the cook, and the lid can get hot very fast. So, you can cover the opening with the cheesecloth, and you should be able to drain the beans.
Slice the bread, and toast it hard while the beans cook.
When the beans are done and strained, add the bacon to the kettle, toss gently. Salt and cayenne to taste, then crumble the toasted bread into crumbs, and again gently toss. Serve.
This tries to be as minimal as possible though providng a good dish, something for a "primitive" camp rather than a trek but not out of possibilities for say a "final meal" as a long trek winds down...., and although the salt is pulled out of the bacon, there is enough fat left in the bacon for good calories for outdoor activities.
LD
