Farts and Darts

Last Saturday, the Sullivans were invited out for a grilled meal of bison burgers at brother-in-law Adam Ardolino's place in Anamosa, Iowa. Saturday is dart night at the Ardolino's. So we were arriving early for this lovely grilled meal. The Dr. decided to bring a side dish; smoked baked beans. The smoked flavor is brought about by smoking a 1 lb ham steak. The baked beans are spiced up using yellow mustard, tangy bbq sauce and dark beer.

Smoking the Ham Steak:

Ingredients:

1 lb ham steak
Mustard Slather:
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup tangy bbq sauce
1 tblsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp beer

Ham Rub
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper


Mix the slather ingredients in a shallow bowl and brush over the ham steak. Sprinkle the rub over each side of the ham.

Smoke the ham steak using apple chips providing the smoke. 1 hour at 220 deg F

Spicing up the Beans:

The beans are cooked in a medium crock pot. Add 1 large can of baked beans to the pot. Add 1/2 cup yellow mustard and 1/2 cup tangy bbq sauce. Cube the smoked ham steak into 1/2" pieces and add them to the crock pot. Chop up 1/2 an onion and add to the bean mixture. Cook on high heat for 1 hour and then turn down to low heat.

The beans were an excellent compliment to the bison burgers.

Of course digestion of baked beans and beef set up a gas generation system within each of us. The night's dart competition quickly became aromatic. Nevertheless, a fine time was had by all, odors not withstanding. The beans were a smoking success!