Navy Beans with Bacon, Corn & Poblanos

These navy beans with bacon, corn and poblanos were nice and spicy. Just what we needed during the lightning and hail storm which blew in quickly and rampaged us last night. No damage though, thank goodness. But in the morning we noticed the mat at our front door had splotches of wet spots in a random pattern, The hail must have blown in there and melted in place.

Soak the beans overnight, then drain and rinse. Add beans to large pot and add about 8 to 10 cups of water. Heat beans on high till they reach a boil then turn down to a simmer. Saute one yellow onion chopped fine, 3/4 cup of celery chopped fine, toss in 3 finely chopped garlic for one minute, then add to beans. Take half a pound of thick sliced bacon and cut crossways with scissors into half inch pieces. Saute in a pan till almost done but not crunchy drain and add to beans.

Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon thyme (or fresh if you have it), 2 teaspoons of dried parsley, (or fresh if you have it, 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning, 3 bay leaves (discard leaves at the end of cooking), 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/8 teaspoon dried chipotle pepper, 1/8 teaspoon of paprika, 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 dashes of worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Occasionally stir the beans and add more water as needed.

Meanwhile blister two poblano peppers on both sides under the broiler. Dip peppers in cold water until cool, then squeeze any water out and skin the peppers. Chop the peppers into half inch pieces and add to the beans. I keep the seeds and these were not hot at all. Occasionally one is warm but that's the fun of it.

Near the end of cooking add one cup of frozen corn or fresh if you have it. Cook for half an hour more and then the beans are ready to serve. Serve with some homemade cornbread. Navy beans seem to cook more quickly than other beans and can be ready in less than 4 hours cooking time. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.