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Boiled peanuts

Mon, 02/22/2010 - 10:55am — bobby

Boiled peanutsBoiled in the shell and really salty.  Best eaten outside, or inside with plenty of paper towels, on a warm day.  A pretty good companion for a little league game.

When I was a kid, there was a guy who came around city park during the little league games.  He'd yell out, "pochet or bawld."  (That translates to roasted (parched) or boiled for all my non-southern friends.)  We'd always beg Dad for a bag of boiled peanuts.

Then when I was in college, I spent many-a-day winding along US-64 from Cashiers to Brevard, NC.  There was an old guy with an old shack on a flat spot inside one of the turns.  Through the window of the old shack, he'd sell applesauce, applebutter, boiled peanuts, and probably all the other back-woods delicacies.  (We never asked about 'shine).  Faced with a choice between making my own or buying boiled peanuts from that guy, I'd go with his every time. 

Wet, salty, and awesome.  Plus you get to drop the shells on the ground!  Mmmmm....

 

Ingredients: 

5 lb raw peanuts, dried or maybe green
1 cup table salt
5 gallon pot
Water to top up

Preparation: 

Boiling

Add salt to one gallon of water over high heat and bring to a boil.

Dump in the peanuts and top with enough water to cover.  The peanuts will float at first.

Keep up the heat until they return to a boil, then reduce to medium-low--enough to maintain a low boil.

Maintain that low boil for eight hours.  Taste to make sure they're salty enough, adding a couple tablespoons salt if you think they need it.

Raise the head to medium-high for 90 minutes, and test for softness. 

When they're done, they should be soft, not mushy.

Unless you're going to eat them in one sitting, you can freeze them or can them

Freezing

Drain the peanuts and place them in a airtight plastic container, then into the freezer.  They can store forever frozen.

Canning

These guys are super-salty and can be canned using the water-bath method (like applesauce).  Fill jars with equal weight peanuts and brine, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Process for 10 minutes.

This is not a lesson in canning.  Call your mother, or check out the Ball website for those instructions.