Cowboy's Baked beans

Now for me, I don't tend to share or give away many recipes.  If you cook professionally or competition level, well it's akin to shooting yourself in the foot.

However I did turn lose of a recipe, for a former president of the American Chuck wagon association to compete with in hondo tx.  He won first place, so I guess it was Ok 

so here it is, enjoy

Ingredients: 

1 lb. Dried navy or Pinto beans 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 lb. Slab bacon

3/4 cup maple syrup ( the good stuff)

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Dry mustard

Dash of cayenne pepper if you want

Directions

Soak beans in about 5-6 cups cold water and allow to soak over night.  Beans should be just slightly covered by the water.  

Build a fire when the beans have soak and are ready to cook.  Have an ample supply of wood or coals to keep a good fire going. 

Drain beans and place in your dutch oven, add enough fresh water to cover beans and place the Dutch oven over the coals and bring to a boil with out placing the lid on.  Once at a boil, put the lid on and continue at a slow boil for another 30 minutes. 

Remove from heat, drain and save your water.  Add in onions, cut your bacon into 3 or 4 chunks and toss into beans and mix.  

In separate bowl, take the water you drained off and mix with syrup, salt and mustard.  Using a dash of red pepper if you desire for some added bite, then stir and pour back over the beans stirring gently.  

Put the lid on the dutch oven, place back over coals and keep a medium heat for about 4 hours.  Occasional, lift lid to inspect, give a slight stir and keep an eye on the water level. Then after 4 hours, add additional coal to the lid and continue cooking for two more hours. This will allow the water to cook down a bit and should thicken up, but cautions not to burn the beans.  

Remove from heat and the beans are ready to serve.  Will feed about 8 people or 5 to 6 hungry cow hands.