Years ago, State Farm agents gathered often for meetings and get togethers. With technology, we rarely do that anymore since training can be done virtually. I truly miss seeing everyone. I think the particular gathering I’m thinking about was when the Sceroler family moved to Mississippi and we gathered at Rodney Stokes home. He has a cool barn/man cave out back on the lake. Rodney is a wonderful cook and when I tasted these beans, I almost died. Nothing like traditional beans, they could be a meal all by themselves. He spouted off the recipe when I asked and I did my best to remember it. I made them soon after for my family and Lou and the children loved them. Probably because of all the brown sugar! All the children could remember is that I got the recipe at a State Farm party, so we simply refer to them as State Farm Beans. They will be a great addition to any Friday Night Porch Party.
State Farm Beans
Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped 1 green bell, chopped 5 stalks of celery, chopped 1 eggplant, peeled and diced 3 tablespoons minced garlic 3 large cans of Bush’s Original Baked Beans, discard the juice on top
1 pound ground sausage or ground beef, browned and drained 1 pound smoked sausage links, cut into small pieces 3 bay leaves Brown sugar, to taste, approximately 2 cups Tony Chachere Seasoning, to taste
Directions: In a large Dutch oven, sauté the vegetables in a little oil with salt and pepper until tender. Add garlic for the last 5 minutes. Add the beans, bay leaves and Tony’s seasoning. Bring to a low simmer, stirring often to keep beans from sticking. Add cooked ground beef or sausage and the link sausage. Cook about an hour. Add the brown sugar to taste, I use about 2 cups. If you want to thicken up your beans, dip out about a 1⁄2 cup of the juice and combine with a couple of tablespoons of corn starch. I think they call this a slurry. Add back to the beans. Adjust your seasonings to taste.