Klondike baked beans is a Canadian dish to be sampled by any person looking for a heritage dish or to bring back our childhood memories of canned beans.
Taken from a short essay titled Klondike Baked Beans by Pierre Berton.
Warming any way you eat them! There is a certain amount of chilly peppers in this dish. Eat the beans hot out of the oven, warmed up, or even cold. Serve them as the main dish with toast and butter or as a side dish or even a potluck dish liken a cold salad or a hot entree. Create a vegetarian version which I do so many times. A good piece of salt pork isn’t easy to find…cannot tell you the last time I found one. Delicious any way you make them.
Seasonal! I have only made them on a cold chilly Fall or Winter day because the oven is on for several hours and the smell each and every time you go in and out of the house is part of the experience teasing those that are just stopping by.
Storytime! Let me share how I came upon making these baked beans and at times I have read Burton’s essay to my guests.
Klondike Baked Beans with Avocado
Yes, I was one of those children that were served baked beans from a can, warmed up with perhaps a chopped Weiner or two, and definitely with toast and butter and most likely a glass of milk on the side (and I don’t remember where the veggies came in. grin and a smile)
It all began when in my twenties. I was taking a college English course as part of a certificate for Travel & Tourism. One of the books was a collection of short essays – all the different kinds of essays. One kind of essay is a “how-to” essay. This is how I stumbled upon Pierre Burton’s Baked Beans only there were no measurements to follow but a very descriptive and entertaining way of sharing a recipe.
Over the years, many people have experienced them – dined with me, sampled them, or got a mason jar full of beans. A few have actually asked for the recipe and I sent it to them. I cannot recall if anyone actually made them.
Hope you enjoy the essay as much as I and to further broaden your research you can search for Klondike Baked Beans. I have done this but I didn’t find the exact same recipe. However, it might help guide you with the quantities. I have never followed any of them nor have I written down what I did (depends on what I have on hand and the company coming over) and every time I enjoy reading the essay in preparation.
Straight from the Yukon: Printable Short “How to” Essay by Pierre Berton Page 1 and Page 2
Experience! Feast all your senses into this one: the visions of seeing the white beans turn a deep brown, the smell of awesome aromas from the herbs and more for hours on end, the taste of something so complex and delicious, and finally, yes the hearing of the sweet words of praise as it touches and warms the stomachs of your appreciative family and friends.
FARTS…oh yes, aren’t these a part of every bean-consuming experience? I find keeping the meal simple…just beans…and no desserts is the best way to reduce this part of the experience. Some of us don’t experience farts. It is possible. And if you wish to know a little more about how this is possible, contact me.
Your story! SO if you do make them, please comment here on your experience and what your happy tasters say about them, them, the deep brown coloured globes basked in a tasty liquid so complex most eaters cannot tell you all that is in but they have fun trying.
Enjoy my good friends!
NEW…I contributed my story and a recipe on these baked beans in a book titled ‘Your Canadian Food Story’ Nourishing Recipes from Across Canada by Loretta Friedrich. The difference between the information above and the book is I took the time to put quantities besides the ingredients.
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I have made the Berton recipe almost every year for a long time, and they are awesome. I always make a huge amount and freeze them, to be thawed and eaten as required. The recipe, and several others of his, is in his book “Just Add Water and Stir.” I think it is also in the book he wrote with his wife Janet “The Centennial Food Guide – A Century of Good Eating.”
Great to hear of such a book. Enjoyed his essay on the beans. I wonder if the recipe in this book has quantities. Thanks for sharing.