Cowgirl Beans

I've been trying to increase the amount of beans and lentils in our diet. They're inexpensive and full of deliciousness and nutrition. When I was younger, my mom made this dish that was essentially bbq baked beans and hamburger meat. So when I found this dish I got all excited. Tonight's dinner comes from The Hillbilly Housewife again. I love her site!


Cowgirl Beans

• 1/2 to 1 pound ground beef

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

• 1 tablespoon EACH vinegar and Worcestershire Sauce

• 8 ounce can tomato sauce

• 2-15 oz cans of pork’n beans or a 28 oz can baked beans

First take out your trusty large skillet. Put the hamburger, onion and garlic in it. Fry everything over medium heat until the meat is cooked through. Break the hamburger up into smallish pieces with a fork as you cook it. Drain off the fat if necessary. Add everything else listed above. If the mixture seems dry, add a little water for simmering. Cover the skillet and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat, or until everything is hot, and the flavors have blended some. Spoon the hamburger and beans over cooked brown rice or whole wheat egg noodles.

Akari's Musings

The ingredient list wasn't overly frightening. James wanted egg noodles instead of rice, much to my dismay. I added another pound of ground pork just round everything out. The corn was for our side dish, not a mix in. Though, that might be an idea for next time. To be honest, I don't know if it was the beans that lacked flavor or if it was just the whole combination of ingredients, but I wound up having to doctor this one up pretty severely. I added 2/3 cup brown sugar, more than 4tbs apple cider vinegar, more Worcestershire, a sprinkling of onion and garlic powders and finally a couple splashes of rice vinegar just to take the blandness away.

There wasn't much work involved with this recipe. It was pretty much a brown the meat, dump some crap in, taste, get worried, dump some more crap in, pray, simmer. Very simple prep work too. There weren't a billion veggies to chop, which was nice. I was starving tonight. I needed something quick and hearty.  It certainly smelled good while it simmered. The corn just got a couple pats of butter, a pinch of sugar and some Kosher salt and about 4 minutes in the microwave.

I gave it one final test before serving it up and my doctoring seemed to help a bit. However, this wasn't what I was expecting. But that's not to say it was bad. In fact, it was delicious. I was looking for more of a BBQ taste than this. It's certainly filling and after a little kitchen magic, tasted pretty dang good.

I think I'm going to keep looking for that BBQ flavor. While this does get my seal approval, I don't think I'll be making this particular incarnation again. Too much work for the payout.

Tomorrow starts The 1st Crock Pot challenge! I can't wait to get started!

~Akari~