P-nuts, Girl

I think I've noticed a trend of late.  It seems that my creative pursuits involve me either trying to please someone in my life or recapture a time when I was happier and life was less complicated.  This is often true in the music that I write and listen to, but it seems the most obvious lately regarding culinary activities.

My first entry in this blog series was Deviled Crabs, which is a perfect example of the latter situation.  They were something that I grew up with and I remember them being in the house even before I had the desire to sample one.  It's a massive understatement to say that the "someone in my life" thing mentioned above has been somewhat of a challenge lately, so most of my culinary goings on have been all about nostalgia.  Deviled Crabs, Ice Cream...even Glazed Donut Grilled Cheese is kind of juvenile even if I didn't actually eat them as a kid (and, from the musical side, my recent Stardust blog was all about my past).  Frankie, my English Bulldog, doesn't care one way or the other about my cooking, so I guess it's time for more recapturing of childhood.

You see?  He couldn't care less.

Boiled Peanuts were something my Dad brought home to our house from as early as I can really recall.  If you're not familiar with them, odds are you did not grow up in the South as they are a staple there.  Well, at least they were, I'm not sure if they still are.  I grew up in the suburbs of Bradenton, FL, which was pretty much Anytown, USA, and still pretty much is.  We regularly ventured east to the more rural part of town though since my family owned a bit of property out that way on which we had built a small cabin.  Many weekends were spent out there and it is now the property where my parents live (in a house...the cabin is gone).  It's not as rural as it once was, but you still see horses and cows and U-Pick farms and the like, which I'm fully in favor of.  The "Local" thing was happening in places like this before the "Local" thing was even a thing.

I don't know these people and I don't endorse their derogatory terminology for "Southern Folk"...ahem.

On the drive out east to spend the weekend at the cabin, I would often look out the window to see a guy on the side of the road that looked like a less clean Larry the Cable Guy with a propane rig, a big pot bellowing out steam and a piece of cardboard on which was written "BOILED P-NUTS".  The word "peanuts" was always misspelled that way.  I have no idea why.  Really, you're just saving yourself writing one character since the dash counts as either the "E" or the "A"...is this really that much more efficient or space-saving?!??

But I digress...we would often stop on our way or my Dad would stop later if he was out and saw them.  Honestly, at this point, I would guess it has been close to 20 years since I've had them, but I still remember the taste like it was last week.  Dad would bring them home and, if I recall correctly, they'd usually be in a plastic bag, which was then put inside of a paper bag that was inevitably spotted with moisture from being loaded in straight from the roadside cauldron.

I'm going to have to implore you to just make these if you've never had them since describing them is kind of tough.  I've heard someone say recently that they are like the edamame of the Deep South and that's actually a pretty good start since the ritual of eating them from the pod/shell is the same, but I think there's something more interesting and complex going on with Boiled Peanuts over Boiled Soybeans.  You can definitely tell they're peanuts, but the character of them is markedly different from the roasted peanuts that most people think of when they think of "peanuts".  Also, they are soft in texture and quite wet and juicy (insert inappropriate joke here).

Boiled Peanuts are made using either Green Peanuts (meaning fresh and recently picked) or Raw Peanuts (meaning fresh peanuts dried in the shell, but not roasted or salted or anything like that).  Honestly, you will likely have a hard time finding green peanuts unless you have a Latino or Asian market nearby that happens to have them in the store during the season.  From what I understand, they don't last very long, which is why most of them are dried; raw peanuts, once dried, will last a very long time, which is why you'll have a much better chance of finding them this way.

Again, be sure you are getting the right thing.  Raw Peanuts will be labeled as such, but most of the in-shell peanuts you see in store will be roasted.  It's worth asking someone at the store for help since, if they do have them, they might not be in an obvious place.  Additionally, as a friend of mine found out the hard way, if you just eat dried, raw peanuts as they are, you'll not be happy an hour or two later...so, yeah...don't do that.

As always, I give credit where credit is due and the recipe I'm using here comes from the brilliant Saveur Magazine.  I've never boiled peanuts myself, so I figured I'd try this recipe first even though it is clearly a different spin on what I grew up with.  The next time I make them, I might try to go the traditional route, but, honestly, I think you'd just take this recipe and eliminate everything but the salt to end up with the flavor I know from my childhood.  The recipe I used though might be good for the modern palate since it employs spicy, flavorful things like fennel, coriander, crushed red pepper, garlic, etc.

Interestingly, the flavors and aromas are not dissimilar from what happens when I make fresh pickles (the Half-Sour Pickles blog is forthcoming!), but with a spicier note.  It makes sense though since the end result is kind of Peanut Pickle-esque.  Speaking of aroma, if you're sensitive to a lot of spice, you'll want to open the windows since these did kick up a lot of strong smells that caused me to cough a bit.

Finally, the best part, they couldn't be easier to prepare.  You just throw it all in the pot and let it simmer for around 4 hours. You have to stir and keep the water level up, but while you're doing that you can easily do laundry, watch a movie, read a book, feed a goat, varnish a neighbor...low-maintenance cooking!

Recipe can be found here!