Maple Baked Beans

4 cups water
1 pound dried navy or butter beans (I used red kidney beans)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ginger

Preheat oven to 350° F .
Add water and beans to a large pot.
Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 2 hours.
Drain the beans, reserving 2 cups of the liquid. (Add water to make 2 cups, if necessary.)
In a small skillet, melt the butter.
Add the onions and sauté until golden, about 7 to 10 minutes.
Add the onion, salt, maple syrup, dry mustard, and ginger to the beans, and transfer mixture to a large baking pot.
Cover the pot and bake in the middle of the oven for 2 hours.
Occasionally check the beans and add more water, if necessary.
After 2 hours, uncover the beans and bake an additional 30 to 45 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.
Let stand about 10 minutes before serving hot.
Serves 10 to 12.

I paired this dish with the Ojibway Wild Rice when we studied the USA. Much tastier than maple baked beans from a can!

Ojibwa Wild Rice

1 cup wild rice
2½ cups water
1½ teaspoons salt
4 strips bacon cut into small pieces
6 eggs
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons chives, minced
⅓ cup bacon drippings
Melted butter

Place the wild rice, water, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until all the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, brown the bacon in a large skillet.
Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain it on paper towels.
Save the bacon drippings from the skillet.
Pour the eggs into a mixing bowl and add ½ teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
Pour the eggs into the skillet where the bacon was browned, and brown the eggs lightly.
Turn them over gently and brown on the other side.
When the eggs are firm, cut them into narrow strips.
Lightly toss the bacon, egg strips, chives, bacon drippings (plus melted butter or margarine to make ⅓ cup) with the cooked rice.
Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings.

This recipe was used when we studied the United States of America, particularly the Great Lakes region. I paired this dish with Maple Baked beans a dish I found under the heading of USA Native Americans

Cultural Dishes

We are currently homeschooling our boys in grade 2 and kindergarten. We try to once a week do a brief study about a different country. We study the country's map, where it is in the world, it's flag, a story or a missionary from that country and the most fun - the food! We have found many good recipes on this journey and in the following posts I will share some of the great new dishes we have enjoyed!