Recipe for Calico Beans
aka Alanna's Famous Cowboy Beans

Nothing like a big ol' pot of beans, doctored, that is. A hearty bean dish, meaty enough for supper, but more often served as a side at potlucks. In my history, these beans are called 'Calico Beans' or some times, 'Cowboy Beans'. Just this week I learned that they are also called 'Roosevelt Beans' and are so famous at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (which I visited for the very first time yesterday!) that the park kitchens print out the recipe as a souvenir for park visitors!

But now I've given them another name, Alanna's Famous Cowboy Beans, because this is one of my most-requested and most-anticipated recipes! I send it along to elk camp, to deer camp and serve from extra-large cast iron Dutch ovens for outdoor parties. Men especially love the beans and no kidding, beg me to send the recipe to their wives.

A hearty bean dish, meaty enough for supper, but more often served as a side at potlucks. Recipe for Calico Beans @ Kitchen Parade.

During my vegetarian years, many Midwestern dishes confounded me. Why was meat present when none was needed? At Thanksgiving one year, save dessert, every single dish, even the broccoli salad, had bits of meat.

It’s taken 11 years of eating meat again, one book and one elk to finally, I think, answer the question.

THE BOOK Food for a Younger Land is portrait of American food culture during the American Depression from WPA writers. It’s a state-by-state uneven although occasionally fascinating book, better to get from the library, say, than to purchase. The Kansas essay described how beef was ever-present.

Aha Moment! Of course: if we live near the sea, we set traps for lobster and crab; if we live on lakes and streams, we throw in a line for walleye and trout; if we live in a place where plants grow into jungles, we learn to worship lettuce and citrus; if we live in the plains where cattle graze, we cook beef.

Or at least we used to eat like this, when a 100-Mile Diet was inconceivable because a 100-Yard Diet was the norm.

THE ELK Last fall, I was shocked at how few coolers it took to carry home a whole Missouri farm-raised elk. Steaks and roasts? A few, but plenty. Elk tenderloin? Exactly two. Stew meat? Sure. Mostly? Pound after pound after pound of ground elk meat.

Aha Moment! Of course: if we have an abundance of ground meat, we tuck it into every dish we can. It’s the thrifty, resourceful and frugal way to feed a family.

Calico Beans? Who gives recipes their names and why do they stick? Tis a puzzle. What’s not a puzzle is that these doctored baked beans are a breeze to throw together and a sure-fire hit at your next barbecue, neighborhood potluck or church supper.

This recipe has been a favorite for so long, taken from a dog-eared Iowa church cookbook with a dozen similar variations, many with more bacon and ground meat, also more sugar. Over the years, I’ve dropped most of the sugar and on occasion, even throw in another can or two of beans, different kinds to live up to the ‘calico’ name.

CALICO BEANS RECIPE

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 90 minutes
Makes 6 cups

1/2 pound bacon, chopped (see TIPS)
1/2 pound ground meat (beef, elk or turkey)
1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup barbecue sauce or steak sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons mustard (any old ballpark mustard will do)
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
16 ounces canned pork & beans
16 ounces canned kidney beans
16 ounces canned butter beans

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook the bacon and ground meat on medium high, breaking the meat into chunks at first, then letting it cook without stirring for several minutes, enough so that it chars slightly, creating a crust. When the meat is nearly cooked, if needed, drain off the excess fat, otherwise, add the onion and cook until just beginning to turn gold, stirring often.

Meanwhile, assemble the remaining ingredients and when the onion is cooked, stir into the meat mixture. Transfer to a casserole dish, cover (or don’t, then a nice crust forms on the top) and bake for 1 hour.

Good served hot or at room temperature.

ALANNA’s TIPS For vegetarian Calico Beans, omit the bacon and ground meat. Then cook the onion, perhaps a bell pepper or two, even a tomato, in a little olive oil. You’ll also want to select a vegetarian can of ‘pork’ (ahem) and beans.

For a little heat, stir in a teaspoon of the adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Half Cup: 261Cal; 9g Tot Fat; g Sat Fat; 28mg Cholesterol; 814mg Sodium; 32g Carb; 7g Fiber; 10g Sugar; 13g Protein; Weight Watchers 5 points

This recipe has been 'Alanna-sized' with reductions in meat, sugar and portion size and increases in low-calorie flavors.

Adapted from a church cook from Webster City, Iowa

LATER NOTES

COOKING for a CROWD This is a real crowd favorite! To cook ahead, cook and freeze the meat mixture. For four batches, I cook two batches each in side-by-side Dutch ovens, cooking the bacon, meat and onions separately. Collect these in a bowl, stir in everything else except the beans. Just before serving, combine the meat mixture and beans and bake over an open fire in a huge cast iron Dutch oven if need be, preferably next to a mountain stream, with a cool breeze whistling through the fir trees. Feed to hungry hunters with hot cornbread!

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg
and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating
and occasional indulgences.

In 2009, Kitchen Parade celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special collection of my mother's recipes.

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