Hawt Bowled P-Nuts

Sometimes my well-meaning friends take me aside to try and gently let me know that my 'Southern' is showing.  Many times it is when I rhapsodize on the qualities of boiled peanuts.  In the South as you drive almost anywhere in the fall you will pass by what looks like cardboard shanties along the roadside advertising the delicacies.  For the uninitiated, there is an inverse relationship of the sloppy grammar signs and the quality of the product.  There is your standard variety boiled in essentially brine and occasionally you may find a spicy set or jumbo sized.  All are welcome as far as I am concerned.  I have attempted on a few occasions to replicate this treat for family and friends and did so again this past weekend for a cookout.  To complete the red-neck ensemble I cooked them in my turkey deep-fryer.  

For some guests who had also grown up in the south, saying I was boiling peanuts was like saying that Christmas had arrived a few months early.  To my other friends who hadn't tried it yet, this was to become the opportunity of their lives to sample happiness in life distilled into a small burst of flavor.  Maybe I'm a bit biased but I do love some boiled peanuts.

Bowl of goober peas

Properly opened shell and the p-nutty goodness inside

The best I can approximate these here in the 'North' is to first get Raw peanuts.  Roasted peanuts are already cooked and do not boil well.  As it is, the raw peanuts are dehydrated and need to be soaked at least overnight.  'Green' peanuts are best but since these are fresh from the field, it is unlikely to be able to get them here.  I add in a generous amount of kosher salt.  I use kosher because I use enough salt to make the water taste like the sea and I avoid the extra iodine.  Then boil.  This takes a long time even after hydration.  Give yourself four to six hours.  The heat doesn't have to be high but should maintain a rolling boil.  Given the time, you may also need to add water but this of -course slows the process.  I haven't attempted it yet but on a smaller scale, I believe a slow cooker approach may work.  However, with the lower temperatures, the cook may take significantly longer.

To eat a boiled peanut, first make sure it is hot since they can seem slimy when cold.  I like to fit the peanut in my front teeth and crack the seam on the shell just a tiny bit and slurp out the juice.  Sucking air past the shell also can cool it rapidly just enough to eat.  I take the cracked shell and split it the rest of the way and either pop out the peanuts with my fingers or slurp them as well.