Quicker Boston Baked Beans

The beans were perfectly cooked, thank goodness. To me, the flavor was was very savory. I wasn't sure if it was the Worcestershire sauce, or too much Dijon mustard. Personally, I was sorely tempted to add tomato paste. But, the article said, "Although many recipes call for tomato products, native New Englander's assured us that they had no place in an authentic Boston baked bean recipe." I reconsidered what to do, as I much prefer a sweeter version of baked beans. Hey, I'm from California!

I decided to add an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar and some honey. Yes, honey! I'm sorry if this offends anyone from Boston, but this did the trick for me.

I have to be honest with all of you. On a scale from 1-5, 5 meaning that the beans were out-of-this-world great, I give this recipe a 3.5... only because I think Bush's Beans have spoiled my palate. HOWEVER, my husband and son loved these beans! They were completely devoured by day #2, and my son asked me to make them again. Therefore, my suggestion is that you can either adapt this recipe if you like a less savory version of Boston Baked Beans. Just to be a bit rebellious, I might go ahead and add some tomato paste, next time. I can't help it, but I love the tang of some concentrated tomato. Just don't tell anyone you know, who lives on the East Coast! I'll just rename them "California Baked Beans", okay?

You can view how I made these on my blog at: http://foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/quicker-boston-baked-beans.html