Ever been so excited for something that while you were hopeful it would in fact equal how you are envisioning in your mind, it ends up being less than expected or worse? I know, when you realize I am simply talking about a side dish to a weekend meal you are possibly thinking my idea of excitement has a pretty low threshold. Hey, we all have our own definitions, right? Well, the Honey Apple Baked Beans I posted about last week were in fact on that level of expectation (it was pretty high) and in fact, they exceeded it.
They exceeded it in two ways - rave reviews by the entire family sitting down to the meal but even more importantly, they were easier than expected (and I was not planning on a high level of difficulty). Once the grill was started (I am a straight up charcoal griller) and while it took its charmingly sweet time getting ready, I started on the beans. Kari (my wife) suggested we toss the bacon in the oven - and if you have never tried this, highly recommend it for ease, little less mess and sacrifice just a little crispiness, but not much - so she took this on while I worked on the apples. I sliced and diced them up (left them with peel on), tossed them in the pan with the beans, mustard and then the bacon was done. After slicing up the bacon, stirred it all together and then as it began to simmer, in went the Honey Apple Grill Sauce.
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| Adding the Honey Apple Grill Sauce |
From there, a low heat allowed for melding of flavors while I continued to work on the main dish on the grill of burgers and steaks. The final product was a pleasing side to the fresh grilled taste of the top attraction...although Kayden (my 11 year old) was willing to move this item to the feature placing on his plate.
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| Finished product ready to dish up |
Favorite part of the dish - the apples. The texture and sweet/tart balance they added against the other flavors was great!
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