1950s Zesty Bake Beans make for the perfect fall comfort food

Whether you love to cook, to eat, or both, there's something about the subtly shift that's underway with the seasons right now that has very real tendency to put us in the mood for heartier fair once more. Thankfully (I'm just not ready for snow yet on so many levels!) we're not into the thick of winter at this mid-September stage, but that doesn't mean that one can't start craving comfort food again.

You know the kinds of dishes I'm talking about. They're often one pot wonders that bubble, simmer and stew for a generous amount of time, filling the house with a scent so lip-lickingly amazing, you wouldn't be entirely surprised if your stuffed animals came to life - Toy Story style - and politely asked for a bowl of soup, plate of casserole, or slice of thick, creamy, sublimely scented pumpkin pie.

With this hankering for stick-to-your ribs fare underway, yet one wedge sandaled foot still planted in summer (...must savour every last sublime moment of sunshine!), I love finding dishes that can come into heavy rotation while the temps are still on the positive side of freezing, yet also see us through the chilliest, most stubbornly icy days of winter that lay ahead in the coming months, too.

Recently while bopping around one of my favourite vintage related website, Click Americana, I came across a scrumptious sounding recipe from 1955 for Zesty Baked Beans, which starts off with a base of canned pork and beans, to which a few delicious pantry staples are added to create a pleasing side (or even main, if you were so in the mood) dish that would work every bit as well for a 4th of July barbeque as it would an early autumn Picnic or need-something-warm-in-my-belly immediately kind of winter evening, say after a day of building snowmen or hitting the ski hill.




{Perfect to make and take on a camping trip, picnic under the autumn leaves, potluck, or simply enjoy in the comfort of your own home, this richly flavorful 1950s baked beans recipe is the kind of side dish staple recipe one can never have too many of on hand. Image source.}


I've already made this dish a couple of times using Bush's Baked Beans (a brand which, for all my fellow gluten-free folks out there, does not add/use gluten in any of their products), which I've only just started being able to find up here north of the 49th this year (at Costco), and absolutely adore it.

I slashed the oil down to just two teaspoons (of olive oil), sautéing the veggies in a non-stick pan (doing so, you could even skip the oil entirely, but I like the little background note it lends this flavourful side dish), and using Balderson cheddar cheese in place of the Ched-O-Bit (great name, but like so many cool food brands of the fifties, it's no longer on the market ).

For all my vegetarian friends out there, fear not, you can easily use your favourite meatless brand of beans in tomato sauce and skip the franks (or use a soy or other meat-free type of hot dog wiener). As you can see in this fun 1950s image, they're more of a garnish than a staple ingredient, and could just as easily be replaced with anything from fresh wedges of late season tomatoes to a generous sprinkling of grilled corn to homemade croutons (perhaps with a little bit of extra cheese melted on them).

And by the same token, if you want to take this in a vegan direction, forgo the cheese as well, which is also more of a garnish, or jazz up this dish with your favourite dairy-free, vegan cheese alternative instead.

You could also play around with the veggies, perhaps stirring in some sun dried, fresh or canned tomatoes, celery, green onions (in place of the white/yellow), Swiss chard, or even (for an especially autumn approved dish) cubes of cooked squash or pumpkin. I upped the green pepper to a cup and sprinkled in a little bit of fresh thyme (just a pinch), to lend a further subtle note of sweetness to this thoroughly tasty vintage bean casserole recipe.

As this ad says, fine food need not be expensive, and this cozy, tasty, thoroughly satisfying 1950s side still lives up to that statement in today's world, making it all the more appealing to keep in frequent rotation not only during the nippier seasons, but all year long as well. Yum-yum! :)

1950s Busy Day Baked Beans are terrific for the hecticness of September

✯ Day 244 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

While recipes (vintage or otherwise) generally appear on Chronically Vintage on Wednesdays, as yesterday post was all about (my cat) Stella's birthday, I bumped the usual food filled entry up a day. In fact, I think this ends up working out quite well because now we can launch the new month off on a tasty note.

Though it's definitely still more summer than autumn here in Toronto (despite - or perhaps because of! - the powerful storms we've been experiencing in this neck of the woods recently), my mind is already drifting to thoughts of hearty comfort foods with intoxicating aromas that haven't seen the light of day since the last snowfall.

It's scarcely a secret that September can be a hectic month - especially if you have little ones that are headed back to school, or if you've making a beeline for campus life yourself! Aside from academic related reasons, the ninth month of the year is often an action packed one because many other events (sports, Girl Guides or Boy Scouts, clubs, etc) start their new seasons now.

We're also beginning to think about the fall and winter holiday season ahead, digging out and reintroducing cold weather clothes into our wardrobes, raking leaves, possibly harvesting our gardens (and, for some, canning the bounty you've lovingly grown), and readying our homes and lives for the upcoming changing of the seasons.

September is rarely a month when I have time to simply stop and smell the roses (or pumpkins, as the case may be) and I know that many of you are in the same boat, so to help usher in September, today's classic 1952 recipe for Busy Day Beans is one that requires but a handful of ingredients and can be table-ready in no time at all.

{Fragrant, delicious Busy Day Beans are a 1950s staple that work just as well for harried folks today. Vintage recipe image via Curly-Wurly on Flickr. Click here for a larger version of this great recipe.}

You can tweak this simple, delicious recipe to your heart's content. I, for one, would swap out the onion flakes for fresh onions, shallots or green onions (scallions) - sprinkling a handful of the later across the top of each serving before bringing it to the table.

Likewise you can  increase or decrease (or remove entirely) the mustard – why not use spicy, brown, or honey mustard instead, as well. Feel free to toss in any other vegetables (some diced boiled potatoes would be wonderful!) you like, or even cubes of meat (ham, bacon, stewing beef, etc) or tofu for added protein and stick-to-your-ribs filling power.

Ready in just 30 minutes, this speedy vintage one pot dish is the kind meal that's a welcome treat during this mile-a-minute month and well on all through the blustery days of autumn and winter.

Quick and delicious 1940s Chuck Wagon Beans recipe

✯ Day 152 of Vintage 365 ✯

Over the years I've developed, picked up or adopted from my youth many dishes which I know by heart inside and out. I don't open a cookbook or go searching online for a recipe when I make them, they're ingrained like the groves in a well worn wooden spoon in my mind. I'm sure many of you have your own reserve of such tried and true, deeply beloved recipes, too.

One that floated into the reportraire last year is a quick-as-flash, very paired down version of vegan chilli that I came up during the dog days of summer, when my husband and I wanted something filling, but devoid of hours spent melting over a hot stove in an even hotter, cramped apartment kitchen. I call the dish, rather un-fussily, Mexican Beans.

It's a simple concoction of kidney (red or white - the mister prefers red, I veer towards white) or black beans, tomato sauce, a little water, diced onions, fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, crushed coriander seeds, bay leaf, sea salt and black pepper, and chilli powder - all of which is cooked together for 20-30 minutes, until the beans have softened and the flavours of the sauce married beautifully.

Neither of us are big fans of spicy dishes, but you could certainly add some fresh or canned chilli peppers as well, if you wanted. To keep this dish on the low fat and calorie side, I don't use any oil, butter, meat or cheese (excluding these ingredients also means it's even easier to whip up a pan of Mexican Beans with store cupboard and a few fresh produce ingredients alone, making it a very economical dish to boot!), but you certainly could (some sharp cheddar grated over top would be a lovely touch).

Recently on Flickr I spotted a somewhat similar recipe from 1948 (which includes ground beef, garlic and little bit of drippings or shortening) that also cooks up relatively quickly (much quicker than the duration for which I generally cook my full-on chilli con carne, which is usually for nothing less than three hours over a low simmer) featuring Hunt's Tomato Sauce called (rather charmingly in a nod to the Western trend of the 40s and 50s) Chuck Wagon Beans.

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{Click here for a larger version of this stick-to-your ribs vintage Hunt's tomato sauce, ground beef and kidney bean recipe, which comes by way of clotho98 on Flickr.}

On this first day of June, with summer already in full swing (temperature wise!) for many - and soon to be here for more still - I thought this super easy bean recipe would be a fun one to share for those days when you want a warm meal, but don't want to pass out from heat stroke after cooking for hours in the kitchen!

Pair it with a salad of  straight-from-the-fridge greens, zesty radishes and cooling apple slices, your favourite bread (or cornbread), and an icy drink and you’ve got a meal that’s filling, healthy and a snap to put together any day of the week.

I hope that this vintage recipe post finds you each doing terrifically and gearing up for an awesome sixth month of the year. Happiest June wishes, and summertime cooking, my wonderful friends!