Dinner Divas Goes to Boston

Well once again we had another wonderful "Dinner Diva's" evening filled with delicious food. This month it was my turn to host. Since I was hosting this also meant it was my turn to pick out the theme. I wanted to do something different that the girls have not done before, since they've been meeting for a long time before I joined the group there's been many themes that have already been done. My last theme was celebrity chefs, I chose Giada, that was also the dinner where I cooked the knife in with the pork tenderloin. I was determined not to do that again! For this month I decided to pick "Famous Food from a City," specifically Boston. Meaning the food should be something the city is known for or have the word Boston in the title. This was surely something the girls had not done before.

Our menu this month consisted of:

• Boston House Salad with homemade Blue cheese Dressing
• Boston Baked Beans
• Boston Baked "Schrod" - A Parker House tradition since 1906
• Roasted New Potatoes
• Green Vegetable
• Omni Parker House Rolls
• Appetizer - Michele - Boston Lettuce Wraps
• Dessert - Janet - Boston Cream Cupcakes

I'm happy to say that everything turned out great and there was no knife cooking this time. One of the great things about our little group or the intent is to try new things. I had a major cooking first yesterday as well, my first time using yeast. I made the homemade dough for the omni parker house rolls, which was really cool to see the dough rising and kneading it and it turned out perfectly, I was pretty proud of my dough, Mike seemed to enjoy the rolls the most, he's already requesting homemade pizza dough.

The Boston Baked Beans also turned out fabulous! We were smelling them all day. I was even outside with Rocky and the neighbor at one point and she was smelling them as well and commented how good it smells. The beans were by no means difficult to make, however it was time consuming. Since I only bought my beans that morning I did not have a chance to soak them overnight so I was only able to soak them for about 90 minutes, but it wasn't a problem at all. The beans essentially took from 11:30-6:30 in total. At one o'clock I then started simmering the beans which was about 2 hours, and then at three o'clock that was when it was time to put them in the oven with the bacon and sauce. At first I didn't realize the bacon went in raw and I was trying to cut it but you just layer it with the strips of bacon. Later when its done and you stir it the bacon pieces just break right up. One thing I will say is that this made a HUGE pot of beans. I would absolutely try cutting the recipe in half next time unless you want to feed your entire neighborhood, which I'm sure they'd enjoy because they were delicious!

Boston Baked Beans
Source: All Recipes

2 cups navy beans
1/2 pound bacon (uncooked)
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion. In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.