Peach Bourbon Baked Beans with Bacon

I got this idea from Too Sauced to Pork.  At the public sampling in Hamburg, NY, they made a batch of this and mixed their left over pulled pork inside to serve.  So, I took my friend Mark in Minnesota's bean recipe and made some modifications.  Here is the recipe.  It makes one, half foil pan of beans:

Peach Bourbon Baked Beans with Bacon

1 60 ounce can Bushes Baked Beans, drained
1 Medium to Large Sweet Onion, Diced
1 pound Bacon, Smoked and Diced
1 Green Pepper, Diced and Sauteed
5 Peaches, Skin removed, Diced and Sauteed
1/4 cup of packed Brown Sugar for the peaches
⅓ Cup Bourbon, For Peaches
Favorite BBQ Sauce, To taste
Optional (Previously Smoked Brisket Burnt Ends, or other smoked meat)
Olive Oil, For Saute
Butter, For Peaches

Saute peppers and onions.  Smoke bacon on smoker until slightly crisp.  Saute peaches in butter.  Add bourbon to peaches to deglaze pan.  Mix everything in bowl.  Place in ½ foil pan.  Cook in smoker at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Smoking the bacon.  This is a beautiful sight any day of the week.

Sauteing the peaches.  I halved 5 peaches, removed the pits, and used 1 Tbsp of butter.  Once the peaches were soft, I added to brown sugar and cooked until caramelized.  Then, I added 1/3 cup of bourbon and cooked down.  Here is what the peaches looked like at various stages of cooking.

The green pepper and onion was diced.  The jalapeno was diced and seeded.  Then, all three were sauteed in a bit of olive oil.  While this was going on, I drained my beans.

Once the beans were drained and the veggies were tender crisp, I crumbled the bacon, added 1 cup of Sweet Bay Rays Original BBQ sauce, mixed and poured into a half foil pan.  then 40 minutes on a 350 F smoker with peach smoking wood.

I took these to a work function and they were all gone.  Next time, I am going to try with fresh beans.  I will also cut back on the brown sugar in the peaches.  I think the sauteed peaches added enough sweet on their own.  Finally, I will add about 1/4 cup of yellow mustard.

You can add more jalapeno to suit your tastes.  I was cooking for a crowd, so I kept the spice to a minimum.  I have made this before with pulled pork and they are outstanding.  Give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill