Mrs. Becky's Beans

Aunt Sue says, "The Beckensteins owned the Deli next to Vitelli's on Greenbrook Rd. Mom [Edith] ordered lunch for employees on holidays, and always included her beans." This was Mrs. Becky's secret recipe until the deli closed.

By the way, Vitelli's made the best soda pop. Grampy always kept a case in the walk in refrigerator for staff on break. I've never found a cream soda with the same smooth taste.

• tomato sauce
• beans
• bacon
• mustard
• ketsup
• onions
• brown sugar or maple syrup or molasses
• garlic
• worchestershire
• hot sauce
• parsley

I think of recipes like this as a framework for jazzing around. I'll never replicate Mrs. Becky's beans, but it's fun to play with variations. Have to confess, mostly we head for a local deli, just as Grammy and Grampy did during busy times at the store. Here's one suggestion.

Jill's Spicy Baked Beans

• 1/2 cup sausage¹
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped small
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• Hot sauce or cayenne to taste
• 1/2–1 cup spaghetti sauce²
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
• 1 tablespoon salsa³
• 2 tablespoons molasses⁴
• 1 can navy beans⁵

In a large sauce pan, fry the sausage; add the onion, fry until translucent; add garlic and fry another minute or so. Remove from heat. Mix in the parsley and cayenne or hot sauce. Add tomato sauce and wet condiments. Stir well. Adjust flavoring to taste. Mix in the beans. At this point Grammy would pour the beans into a casserole and bake them at 350°F for about 30 minutes. I brought the pot to a boil and simmered until the sauce was thick, about 15 minutes.

Serve with something cooling like coleslaw or pickled beets. (Hal says, "They're a little fierce.")

Notes about ingredients:

1. Would bacon be better? No doubt, but my first try was spur-of-the-moment, and we had no bacon. I think any preserved meat would work—I'm really tempted to try pastrami.
   
   
2. Mrs Becky likely used something like DelMonte canned tomato sauce. I used Prego because it's what I had. It wouldn't hurt to use more, depending on your family's taste.
   
   
3. Mrs. Becky probably used Tabasco sauce, which was about the only hot sauce around when I was a child. I didn't have hot sauce, so I used Pace salsa. Whatever your family likes will work.
   
   
4. I like dark molasses, so that is what I always use with beans. Maple syrup (the real thing!) or a mix of maple and molasses also would be good.
   
   
5. There's enough added flavor here that it doesn't much matter what beans you use. Aunt Sue started with B&M baked beans. I prefer plain canned beans because they're less mushy. Navy beans are traditional. We often use black beans.