Swedish Brown Beans

I belong to a food buying club served by Ozark Co-operative Warehouse. They often run specials on unusual (to Americans) cheeses, rices, beans, etc. Recently I bought a #5 sack of Swedish Brown Beans, but when a searched Recipezaar -- nothing! However I did find this recipe on SOAR: The Searchable Online Archive of Recipes and tried it that night. It made a delicious creamy dish - a little sweeter than most main-dish bean recipes, but very delicious. You can cut down on prep time by bringing the beans to a boil for 10 minutes, then covering. Remove from heat and let sit for an hour. This takes the place of soaking overnight. Make sure your beans are tender before you add salt. (Salt tends to toughen the beans.) Serve with a hearty bread.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 5 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2  cups  brown beans, dried (Use Swedish Brown Beans if possible)
• 6  cups water
• 1⁄2 cup white distilled vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup corn syrup, dark
• 3  tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 2  tablespoons butter, melted
• 1  cinnamon stick, small
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. Pick over and rinse the beans.
2. Add the water and soak the beans at least 12 hours.
3. Bring the beans and soaking water to a boil.
4. Cover the pan and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
5. Add the salt, vinegar, syrup, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon stick.
6. Stir to mix.
7. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, or until the beans are tender.
8. The liquid should be as thick as a sauce at the end of the cooking period.
9. If the liquid is not thickened, turn up the heat for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced.
10. Remove the cinnamon stick.
11. Serve hot.