Baked Beans

I would not eat a tin of baked beans if you paid me. I know a lot of people love them but they are just not for me. I found this recipe to make them myself and I have to say they are fantastic. They do take a bit of planning ahead so I double the recipe and freeze them. If you forget to take them out of the freezer in time for dinner you can thaw them in the microwave but do it slowly or you could end up spending the evening cleaning the microwave as I found out the hard way.

250g dried haricot beans.
2 onions, chopped.
2 tbsp olive oil.
2 tbsp cornflour.
300ml stock.
400g can of chopped tomatoes.
1 tbsp grainy mustard.
2 tbsp black treacle.
2 tbsp tomato puree.

Preheat the oven 150C (fan)

Soak the beans in plenty of cold water over night. Drain, put in a large pot with fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the beans are tender. Drain and put into a casserole dish.

Blend the cornflour with 4 tbsp of cold water, add to the stock and pour over the beans. Then add the oil, onion, tin tomatoes, grainy mustard, treacle and tomato puree.
Give everything a good stir. Cover with a lid and put into the oven for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until the beans are tender and the sauce has thickened.