Superbowl Sunday: Pork and Beans

Two years ago I made pork and beans on Superbowl Sunday based on a Bittman recipe in the NYT (it's behind the paywall now, the article is from Jan 28, 2004). Since then I've made the recipe, with modifications, a couple of times. Even without New England in the game, it still seemed appropriate yesterday.

2 cups great northern beans, sorted, washed, and soaked overnight
1.5 lbs pork shoulder butt, extra fat trimmed, 1" dice
1/2 lb slab bacon, cut into lardons
2 medium yellow onions, medium dice
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 Tbs molasses
2 Tbs tomato paste
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Render the bacon in a large oven-safe pot over medium heat until it's nicely browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Brown the pork butt in the bacon fat. Use a bit of salt and some pepper to season the meat while browning, but be careful with the salt (it interferes with the beans cooking). When the pork is browned, remove from the pot and reserve. If there's more than a Tbs or so of fat in left in pan, remove the extra now.
Add the onions and garlic and use them to deglaze the pan; cook until they are soft. If the pan isn't fully deglazed, add a bit of stock and finish that. Then add the rest of the ingredients, including a couple of good grinds of pepper, and get everything well mixed. Add back the pork and bacon. Add as much water as is required to get everything covered.
Cover the pot and put it in the oven. After an hour, remove the lid and give the beans a stir.
Cook, stirring every half hour or so, until the beans are tender. This will take about another 2 hours. If the liquid level starts to get too low during the cooking, add a bit more water (not too much though, unless you want soupy beans).
Remove the pot from the oven and adjust seasonings; it'll need salt.