Southern Sweet Beans

Sometimes I like beans with my breakfast eggs and biscuits and these beans suit me just fine. This dish is my own invention, based on some ideas that I picked up here and there. I also like them as a brunch side. They taste something like baked beans, a bit mushy, and with a slight southwestern twist combined with the traditional sweetness of Native Appalachian dishes. They're cooked on the stovetop, a bit of bother too, but I make up a batch and eat them all week at different times of day. I hope you enjoy these beans as much as I do.

• Ready In: 1 hr 25 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 8  ounces bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
• 30  ounces  pork and beans
• 12  ounces  cola, Royal Crown (RC Cola)
• 1  large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1  large  white onion, chopped
• 1  cup catsup (I use Red Gold brand)
• 3  tablespoons molasses (or, brown sugar)
• 3  tablespoons butter, divided
• 2  teaspoons chili powder
• 2  teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1  tablespoon red wine vinegar (or, cider vinegar)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon white pepper

Directions

1. After you've fried the bacon crisp, pour off most of the grease and fry the apples in the same skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes and then add in the molasses. Cook for one more minute, remove from heat, and set aside.
2. In a large cooking pot, blend the bacon, beans (with juice), RC cola, catsup, 2 tablespoons of the butter, chili powder, mustard, vinegar, garlic powder, and white pepper.
3. Add the molasses and apples to the bean mix and then add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan in which you cooked the apples. As soon as it melts, pour in the onions and cook them until they are tender. Add the onions to the bean mix.
4. Simmer the beans over low heat, UNCOVERED, for one hour until they reduce by about half.
5. Serve or refrigerate until use.