Boston-Style Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried white pea beans, soaked overnight in cold water
• 6 cipollini or small onions, peeled
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 pound salt pork
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tablespoon dried mustard
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Pour off the soaking water from the beans and put the beans in a large saucepan. Add water to cover, then bring the pot to a boil. Take the pan off the heat, spoon away any foam on top, and drain the beans, saving the cooking water. Put that liquid aside, then move the beans into a heavy casserole or Dutch oven. Heat the oven to 275ºF.
2. Press a clove into each of 3 onions, then add those onions and the remaining onions to the beans. Slice the salt pork into 2-inch pieces and add it to the pot. Stir the brown sugar, molasses, mustard powder, and salt into about 1 cup of the saved cooking liquid, then pour that mixture over the beans and pork, stirring everything together. Add more of the reserved liquid until the beans are covered, and hold on to whatever liquid remains.
3. Cover the pot and bake for 4 hours, checking occasionally so the beans stay submerged and adding reserved cooking liquid as needed. After 4 hours, the beans should be barely tender, though the exact timing depends on how old the dried beans are; older beans need more time. Remove the cover and bake for another hour, until the sauce has thickened and the salt pork has taken on color.