When my family celebrated birthdays this past weekend, everyone was enamored by the baked beans at the table. They couldn’t stop saying how every Saturday at their house was “Franks and Beans” night, over and over again as if it were this huge pride factor. And maybe it would have been something prideful if it were some “family secret” recipe for beans and locally made sausage from the butcher. But we’re talking store brand canned beans and nitrate-pumped meat that lasted months. All that got me thinking: Maybe I can make a frank and beans dish to be prideful of? Or at least one that would taste good.
It started out with good hot dogs. I love these ones by Applegate Farms. They’re made with grass-fed beef so the saturated fats are low and it has omega-3′s. Besides that, it just tastes really beefy.
I started by cutting it up and adding it to a heated pan. When you cut things at a bias, you increase the surface area that touches the pan.
My beans of choice were chickpeas, since we still have so many on hand from when I last made them. It’s really cheap and easy to get organic chickpeas from the bulk bins at a grocery store and cook them yourself. And you get so many! Then there was the secret ingredient…
Sometimes, only bacon fat will do. Whenever there’s extra fat from cooking bacon, I reserve it and keep it in the fridge. Why not? It’s flavorful and would be a waste to throw away. That’s my reasoning, anyway. And you’ve never had beans until you’ve had them cooked with fat.
After everything had cooked through, I broke out the accouterments:
Any good cook out must have ketchup, honey mustard, and hot sauce. Bonus points if any/all are organic.
The great organic franks and beans.
Now this I could eat every Saturday night.
Are there any foods that remind you of specific times in your childhood? When I was a kid, we got buffalo wings and pizza every Tuesday night–delicious.
Haha. I don’t have ketchup or honey mustard. I do have some spicy mustard, though. Mmm… and one thing I remember from my childhood is that my mom would make us crepes every Sunday for dinner. I always looked forward to that!
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I just caught up on all your posts…in 24 hrs you are one freakin busy machine!
“Volume up and beat poppin’” from your running post…good one!
and the opposite sex isnt wearing much and/or pic everyone naked or write blog posts in your head…i defi do the later. in fact, i do it all day long and need to STOP..ha!
bacon fat. you can have my share
tomato soup and grill cheese from child hood = fri nites in lent.
tempt vanilla, ok, noted. i wont buy that in the spirit of getting adventurous. i will buy all mint. scott is not a coconut lime guy at all! unless it’s a drink w/ vodka LOL
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I love those hot dogs! They are awesome.
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I’ve blogged about my love for beanie weenies before
I love it that you used chickpeas here!
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Franks and Beans just makes me think of Something About Mary…
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Love Beans and Weiners – and I’m a self-professed store bought out of the can…so what? I like it all ways. Yours look good though – for some reason I don’t think of chickpeas as beans…? I know.
Do you find that blogging so frequently has cut down on your comments/viewers at all? It’s good – but other posters like HEAB or Averie who post 1 x/day get a lot of hits with more time to read/respond – since not everyone is on the computer all day or updates a few times a day…
But whatever works for ya anyways!! It’s all interesting anyhow
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