“Secret Sauce” BBQ Baked Beans

Ingredients

For The BBQ Sauce:

1 cup mustard

1 cup vinegar

Two-thirds cup ketchup

Two-thirds cup brown sugar

3 smashed garlic cloves

½ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For The Baked Beans:

BBQ Sauce as per above

4 (14.5 ounce) cans Navy Beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly

6 slices bacon

1 cup pulled pork

1 large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

salt & pepper

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup molasses

1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes

11/2 cups beef stock

Preparation

For The BBQ Sauce:

Preheat oven to 400° F. Place bacon on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove bacon and place on paper towels to absorb bacon grease, and reduce oven to 325° F. Reserve at least 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

Add 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a large saucepan and bring to medium heat.

Add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes and remove from the heat. While BBQ sauce is cooking, chop up the bacon.

After the BBQ sauce has cooled remove the smashed garlic cloves from the sauce and discard.

For The Baked Beans:

Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon reserved bacon fat to an 8-quart Dutch Oven (or sauce pot) and bring to medium-high heat.

Cook the onion, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix in the garlic and cook 1 more minute.

Add the BBQ sauce, bacon, pulled pork, sugar, stock, molasses, a sprinkle of salt & pepper, beans and tomatoes; bring to a boil.

Cover pot (or transfer to a baking dish) and place in oven; bake until thick and fragrant, about 2 hours.

Cool 10 minutes.