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Monday, 9 July 2012

Perk up your beans

I was looking for something quick and snacky for lunch and thought, ah, beans on toast, always good for a standby. Half a tin of beans zapped in the microwave (11p), two slices of frozen wholemeal bread (2p), browned in the toaster, job done in a couple of minutes.

But hey, this is boring, it needs perking up a bit. Baked beans are always too sweet for me, so why not add something to mask the taste, why not change the taste completely. Time to experiment.

I added a few shakes of turmeric and a teaspoonfull of tartare sauce, I love tartare sauce. Swish it about a bit and microwave in a small dish. Do you know what, it was flippin lovely. I shall be adding some more flavours to my beans from now on, it perks them up a treat. No need to put up with boring beans any more. Ooops, have eaten half of them, ha ha.  

23 comments:

  1. I have to have some baked beans now. All your fault! I just add pepper.

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  2. Wow thats so cheap! Please tell me where you get your beans from at 22p thx :) I eat a lot of beans on toast when I'm trying to lose weight. It fills me up without too many calories. It does get a bit boring though so I'm going to experiment like you. Perhaps a dash of chilli powder or soy sauce??

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  3. Hi Rosie. They were from Tesco, reduced because they were just out of date. The cheapest I have seen them is 25p, shouldn't need to pay more than that.

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  4. I often add relish to baked beans; depending on sweet/hot/spicy content of the relish, the flavor is different each time.
    Have you ever had baked beans as a side for scrambled eggs? Surprisingly good combo!

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  5. My husband only likes the beans from Aldi (the name is Corale). They do a more basic brand but he doesn't like them, says they don't taste as nice. I'm not sure how much the Aldi beans are nowadays - remember when they were a loss leader at 8p?

    I like a bit of Worcestershire sauce with them. And pepper.

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  6. LOL...beans with no seasoning, cooked by me, and served with no condiments is the way I prefer beans. I don't even use salt in beans I cook! Others are appalled. I make great baked beans from scratch, but I don't even eat them even though I cooked them. Oooops, occassionally-once-a-year, I squirt catsup on blackeyed peas, a homage to my childhood, I suppose.

    Remembering now--once I had such an allergic reaction to chow chow (relish) eaten with blackeyed peas that I am afraid to eat it again.

    Most people here cook dried beans with a hunk or pork or a hambone. Do you all do that in the UK, or is that an American thing?

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  7. mm sounds lovely! My lot like them cooked on the hob for ages so that they go all thick and gooey with either some bbq sauce stirred through, or a spoon of curry powder.

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  8. Curry powder is nice with some value sultanas..

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  9. my aunt crumbles on oxo cube into her beans and calls them "brown beans"! :-D

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  10. I usually add a teaspoon of Las Iguanas yellow chilli sauce but have just found out that it has been discontinued! Just as well I stockpiled several bottles!

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  11. Baked beans on toast with a poached egg on top with a dash of worcester sauce is a quick nourishing lunch or even a supper meal.

    Danneke

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  12. We eat baked beans here but usually as a side with hamburgers or hotdogs. I make mine into Calico Beans which I just love. Go to Cooks.com and search in Calico Beans. I love all the ideas your readers have for giving them a change.

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  13. I really don't like baked beans in their raw unadulterated state but can I direct you all to a Lindsay Bareham recipe for Baked Bean Soup that so lush. It's definitely one that greater than the sum of its parts. Veggies can leave out the bacon.

    http://lovelygreyday.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/baked-bean-soup-and-other-camper-van.html

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  14. I like these ideas. I usualy do have scrambled egg with my beans on toast, but I haven't any in at the moment. Haven't any oxo cubes but I have veg stock cubes, will try that. Curry powder, that's a good idea. Can't answer your question PP, I know nothing about meat cooking, and I have given up with dried beans. Baked bean soup, now there's a thought. I sometimes put them in stew to bulk it up.

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    Replies
    1. Meanqueen,
      I am going to have to come to UK and show you how dried beans are done in the US. People cook the dried beans and put the bone or odd chunks of ham in beans. Most Southerners are very insistent that a ham bone MUST be added to beans for the flavor. Of course, there is meat on the bone that cooks right off the bone and floats around in the beans. It is delicious. However, I try to give up some of the Southern cooking that adds fat and sodium, so I can indulge in other not-nutritious Southern food.

      Why did you give up on dried beans? If you said why, I forgot.

      I was 60 years old before I heard of anyone eating beans on toast. A guy I knew mentioned it. I gagged at the thought, but had eating habits that gagged him. Beans on bread/toast must be more popular in UK than here. You all talk about it lots.

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  15. A dollop on Branston Pickle does it for me

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  16. I buy Asda reduced salt/sugar baked beans as I find the others too sweet too. I don't eat them often, but sometimes I like them cold straight out of the tin.

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  17. I add chili sauce in baked beans.I get baked beans Made in Italy(69 cents)

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  18. Some lightly fried onion and curry powder is nice in beans too...

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  19. I add hot mustard to mine - yum, I just love beans on toast.

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  20. I opened a very blah tasting can of organic (no flavour & no salt) benas the other week and they were inedible until I added some ketchup, grainy mustard and worcestershire sauce - it was delicious!

    Margie in Toronto

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  21. Hi Margie, I love grainy mustard as well, I use it a lot in cooking. I will give it a try in the rest of the beans today. Thanks for that tip.

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