Baked Beans

I am not from the South, nor did I ever really grow up on Southern Comfort Food.  However, living in San Francisco, your repitoire gets drastically expanded with every new restaurant or food truck opening.   This whole Southern kick started awhile back when I made my Pulled Pork Sliders, an equally delicious and laborious dish.  I have been thinking I should make it again but didn't want to put in the whole effort on a weeknight.  I calculated how long it would take to make BBQ ribs with all the fixings on the side and decided that would be put on hold for a warm Saturday afternoon with friend.  I did realize however, that I could make some of the "fixins" on the side and to hold off my BBQ fix for a bit.  Baked Beans and Coleslaw seemed like the perfect easy weeknight meal I could tackle in 30 minutes after I got home at 8pm from working out.

So here goes, I will be the first to admit that my recipe is not a standard recipe, it has out of all things Pancetta in it (to be fair I wanted to use bacon but TJ's was out of it).  The beans are actually Baked Beans from Trader Joes in which I doctored up, very unprofessional Amy.

Baked Beans:
tiny splash of peanut oil
2 ounces of cubed pancetta (half the box that TJ's had)
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno, minced
1 can of Trader Joes Organic Baked Beans
1 heaping tsp chipotle sauce or 1 chipotle minced
splash of water
salt and pepper
2 scallions, chopped

In a sauce pan, heat the little amount of oil and add the pancetta, brown to render the fat.  Remove with a slotted spoon.

Add the onion, garlic and jalapeno and sweat on medium heat.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper. 

Add the beans into the pan with all the sauce, add the chipotle and a splash of water.  Add back in the pancetta and let reduce on low to medium low heat for 7-10 minutes and taste for seasoning.  Garnish with the scallions and cilantro if you have it.