Statistics tell us that frozen foods have largely replaced tinned delights for people in search of a quick meal solution.
Baked beans, however, seem to have been exempted from this change in buying habits. They provide a quick, healthy breakfast or lunchtime snack and often are partnered with sausages or something else from the frying pan.
It is, however, easy to make your own version of this long-time Kiwi favourite, and even though it is based largely on tinned ingredients, I can guarantee that the resulting dish will far outstrip any pre-mixed example when it comes to pure, unabashed flavour.
1 Tbsp pure olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, part-crushed, chopped
half tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
half tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 x 400g tin Italian tinned tomatoes
2 x 390g tins cannellini beans, drained

Heat the oil in a pot and add the onion. Cover and sweat on a very low heat until it softens.
Add the garlic and oregano and cook for a further minute, stirring, then add the mustard, tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and tomatoes, chopping the latter roughly in the pot.
Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, then take the lid off and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until most of the watery liquid has evaporated.
Add the beans and cook just long enough to warm them through, season to taste and serve with grainy toast.
Serves 4
Wine match
This is a hearty dish that needs a richly fruited red to bring out its best qualities, and that leads us towards shiraz from our sun-baked neighbour across the ditch.
The Brown Brothers winery, based in Victoria's King Valley, produces a handful of variations on the theme. Brown Brothers Patricia Shiraz 2006, named in honour of company head Ross Brown's late mother, has all the right cracked pepper and plum aromas and an impressively rich flavour.
It's a superb wine, but its $55 price tag might be a bit much for the beans, although the thought of such an unpredictable monetary juxtaposition does have some appeal.
Around $18-$19, however, will buy you a bottle of the less complex but still enjoyable Brown Brothers Shiraz 2008. The cracked pepper aromas on the nose are joined by a suggestion of dried herbs and the flavour leans toward the medium-bodied end of the spectrum. But it still offers a reasonable whack of ripe fruit flavours for your buck.