Franks and Beans, or Beanie Wienies

Can you believe I've never had franks and beans before? I know I've never made it or had it in a restaurant, and I can't remember my parents ever making it when I was a kid. But I came across this post for Beanie Wienies for Grownups over at Homesick Texan, and I just knew it would be good.

After sauteing the onion and garlic (plus a jalapeno, because I could) in bacon fat (from crisped up bacon instead of the salt pork), in went the beans, sliced Nathan's hot dogs, the sauce ingredients, and the chopped up bacon. I omitted the brown sugar, because I thought it was sweet enough with the molasses. My chile powder was a mix of ancho, chipotle, and New Mexico powders, along with a little Aleppo pepper and a habanero flake or two.

I didn't make my beans from scratch, because I've found that Sun Vista beans are better than anything I can do myself. Instead of the white beans the recipe called for, I used pinto beans, because Hubby insisted on it.

Was it good? Hell, yeah. Especially served with a biscuit and a poached egg.

Hubby said he thought the coffee made it bitter, but I totally disagree. He wouldn't have know there was coffee in it if I hadn't told him.

Like I said, I've never had beenie weenies (I prefer the incorrect spelling in this case) before today, but I can guarantee this is 100 times better than anything out of a can.