Cape Cod 2010

On Saturday morning, after packing up our temperamental cat and half of our kitchen, (including our 7.25 quart Le Creuset dutch oven, 14-cup Cuisinart food processor, new ice-cream maker, and the aforementioned corn zipper) Judd and I drove up to Wellfleet with my mom and sister where I will spend the next two weeks reading and cooking as much as I can. Glorious.

We're renting the same house where we've spent one week for four of the last five summers and it's great to be back. We started our vacation with a variation on last summer's inaugural Cape Cod steakhouse dinner: grilled ribeye steaks, creamed spinach, local corn on the cob, grilled portobello mushroom caps, sliced tomato and onion, and béarnaise sauce (it was far more appetizing than it looks).

Yesterday, we grilled a selection of sausages for lunch (bratwurst, knackwurst, and frankfurters from Schaller & Weber, purchased in NYC and brought it up here in a cooler), which we enjoyed along with the Barefoot Contessa's "vegetable coleslaw" and homemade baked beans.

In case you're craving some delicious and extremely easy vegetarian baked beans and want to make them yourself - no baking involved - here's the recipe:

Sweet and smoky [baked] beans

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 small onion, minced

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

3/4 cup smoky barbeque sauce (I like Bull's Eye Original BBQ Sauce)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon hot sauce

two 15-ounce cans small red beans, drained and rinsed

In a large, deep skillet, cook onion and garlic in oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until nearly evaporated. Add barbeque sauce, water, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Add the beans and cook over moderate heat until the sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Transfer beans to a bowl and serve.