Orange Marmalade Baked Beans with Smoked Turkey Sausage

Here's the thing about beans folks, while they're creamy, tasty, affordable and just about perfect... they'll never be the Marilyn Monroe of the foodie world:@) But, these Orange Marmalade Baked Beans with Smoked Turkey Sausage sure are good! And offer quite a few options, prefer kielbasa? Sounds great! Want them spicier? Add chipotle powder or some hot sauce. Don't have bell pepper? Use whatever you have on hand. You get the idea. One thing you don't want to change though, is the orange marmalade, it's very nice. The idea was to use it instead of brown sugar or molasses and it adds such a nice little surprise bite of orange every once in a while. I'll be making these again!

Not only are the ingredients versatile, you can cook them in the oven or on the grill (note my cast iron skillet). I'm sure they'd be fine in a crock pot too, but haven't tried it. The recipe below will fit into an 8" skillet or 1 1/4 qt baking dish. I started with canned baked beans and like to pour off any liquid that willingly comes out of the can when I open it. I just hold the lid down over the beans and let them drain for a bit, anything left in the can goes into the baking dish.

Got leftovers? I wrapped some in a tortilla and topped it with a very liberal sprinkling of Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce, that was a very nice treat-both the meal and the hot sauce:@)

Orange Marmalade Baked Beans with Smoked Turkey Sausage
2 (15oz) cans baked beans, lightly drained
1/4 C marmalade
1/4 C ketchup
1 tsp prepared yellow mustard-I'm sure any type will be fine
1 tsp chili powder-I used 1/2 tsp chili powder and 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
2 tsp dried minced onion
green pepper, either 1/4th of a bell pepper, one small jalapeno or half of a poblano
Slightest, barely a sprinkle of cinnamon, maybe 1/16th of a tsp...
3.5 oz Smoked Turkey Sausage cut into 1/2" pieces-or any other sausage
Note: Turkey Sausage was a New Food To Me so I wanted to try it, and I like it:@) It comes in a 7oz package and I only used half a pack, if you love sausage ~you know your crowd~ or plan on this being a main dish instead of a side dish go ahead and add the whole package. Just use a bigger baking dish.

• Mix everything well and pour into baking dish, cast iron skillet or vessel of a crock pot.
• Oven: Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for about one hour but it shouldn't take longer than 1 1/2 hours. Just until it thickens up nicely.
• Grill: Bake over indirect heat on covered grill for about 30-45 minutes, checking to make sure it's not cooking too quickly and the bottom is not getting too brown, stir every once in a while.
• Crock Pot: I'm guessing cooking it on low for 3-4 hours would be fine, you might want to take the lid off for the last hour so the sauce can thicken up. I'm just guessing here folks... 

Eat well and have a happy day:@)

My New Foods List:

(If my sons happen to read this... relax! I still promise fairly "normal" Sunday dinners...)

hominy ~ artichokes ~ fish sauce (I'm scared) ~ almond paste ~ oyster sauce (scared again) ~ gorgonzola ~ dates ~ brisket ~ parsnips ~ adobo ~ meringue powder ~ fennel ~ goat cheese (I'm told to be scared) ~ souffle ~ red velvet anything ~ curry ~ capers ~ chow chow ~ pot stickers ~pho ~ ponzu sauce ~ fondant ~ fire roasted tomatoes ~ Gruyere ~ Quinoa ~ Tetrazzini any kind ~ Divinity ~ Meyer lemon ~ lemon curd ~ leeks ~ shallots ~turkey tenderloin and Chipotle Powder ~ Smoked Turkey Sausage:@)

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