Bean Bakes are the perfect dish for potluck dinners, tailgating, or any fall event. A crossover between spicy chili and savoy baked beans, it’s a great companion dish for any menu. A flavorful combination of beans, corn, ground sirloin, and bacon, it’s delicious and filling as a side or main dish. Toasting and grinding whole spices does add more flavor, however to save time you can use ground spices and skip the first step.

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, or ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, or ground coriander
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
8 ounces ground sirloin
4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into thin strips or chopped
1 medium onion, small dice
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 – 15 ounce cans of cannelloni beans or white kidney beans, drained
2 ears of corn, removed from the cob
1 yellow or orange pepper, medium dice

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using whole spices, in a small sauté pan, toast until the seeds are light brown and fragrant. Cool slightly, and then grind in a spice grinder. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, ketchup, apple cider vinegar and mustard; set aside. Using a large oven proof casserole or dutch oven, set over medium heat and sauté the beef, bacon and onion. Cook until the meat is brown and the onion is tender. Drain off any fat. Add the spices and 1-1/2 teaspoons of salt and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the beans, corn and pepper. Stir the ketchup mixture into the bean mixture with ½ cup water and stir well. Place in the oven; cover and bake for 45 minutes, uncover and bake another 15 minutes. Rest 15 minutes and serve.