Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients

2 cups navy beans
4 slices of thick bacon cut into small strips
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Rinse in the morning and add fresh cold water and  let them soak for another two hours.  Simmer the beans in the same water until tender (1-2 hrs) Drain and reserve the liquid.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F 

Add cooked beans in a 2 qt casserole dish and mix in bacon and onion. 

In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans (keep the remaining liquid). Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

Place casserole dish on a cookie sheet to catch any bubbling over that may occur. 

Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid or aluminum foil about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.