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Maple Beans

A baked bean dish with maple syrup, bacon, and spices.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Maple Beans

Oven165°C (325°F)
Time3 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Wash beans and place them in a saucepan with the water. Cover and bring to a boil, checking regularly.

  2. When the water has reached the boiling point, simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Let sit for 1 hour, covered.

  3. After the hour, return the beans and water to heat and bring to a simmer, still covered. Simmer for 45 minutes.

  4. Strain the beans and water through a colander, collecting the liquids in a bowl for later use.

Make the sauce

  1. Combine the onion, salt, mustard, and maple syrup. Add the bean-water to the mix and blend well.

Bake and serve

  1. Finely slice the bacon, place it in a roast pan or casserole dish, and cover with the beans, pouring the liquid mixture over the top.

  2. Cover and bake for 3 hours at 165°C (325°F), adding 125 ml of bean-water at the 2½ hour mark.

  3. Melt the butter and combine with the brown sugar. Pour over the baked beans and bake, uncovered, until the liquid is no longer visible.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

299Calories
5 gProtein
15 gFat
38 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Maple Syrup1 tbsp (20ml)52
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Beannot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beans + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,242 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Small dried white beans
Form the body of the stew and absorb the sweet sauce as they cook.
Maple syrup
Adds sweetness and a deep caramel flavor while helping the sauce thicken and brown.
Dark brown sugar
Adds molasses-like sweetness and helps the top caramelize during the final uncovered bake.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and helps the top brown.
Side bacon
Adds smoky, savory fat that flavors the beans as they bake.
Sweet onion
Adds savory sweetness and aroma that builds the base flavor of the sauce.

The step that matters

Bake and reduce the liquid until it is no longer visible. Beans need enough liquid to cook through during the long bake, but the final uncovered bake lets water evaporate so the sauce thickens and caramelizes rather than staying soupy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, maple syrup, sugar, butter, mustard, pepper):

  1. Sweet potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, maple syrup, sugar, butter, mustard, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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