A few weeks ago, I came across a young fellow who had never sampled a boiled peanut.
He’s from Michigan -- bless his peanut-picking little heart -- and like so many Americans, his knowledge of the goober pea was limited mainly to peanut butter, roasted ballpark nuts and candy bars.
But after cracking into a boiled peanut and savoring the tender salty morsels within, he took quite a shine to the wet Southern snack. So much so that he earned himself a new nickname -- Goobs.
As a native of Georgia, the nation’s No. 1 peanut-producing state and home of America's only peanut-farming president, Jimmy Carter, I guess I’ve become something of an ambassador of goober peas. Daddy was a peanut farmer; Mama worked as a bookkeeper at a peanut mill; my brother still farms peanuts; and one of my cousins is an executive at an Alpharetta-based peanut conglomerate. Our roots run deep in the dry, sandy soil of the southwest Georgia corner where peanuts are king.
I remember “peanut season” as a sensual assault -- the taste, the aroma, the hours of concentrated field labor, the roaring dryers at the mills.
After growing all spring and summer, the green vines are plowed from the earth, and the upturned pods are allowed to dry in the sun. The peanuts are then stripped from the vines by enormous combines pulled by tractors, dumped into wagons and quickly dried to avoid spoilage.
This is the agricultural process that leads to peanut butter, peanut oil, peanut confections of all kinds, and peanuts boiled in hot salty water -- a method that brings out the essential leguminous quality of goober peas.
Peanuts, you see, are legumes just like peas and beans, and if their shells weren’t so woody and tough, I believe we’d eat them like black-eyed peas and butterbeans. If you have the patience to shell them, you can do just that. And even smash them into “hummus.”
This is the best time of year to find green Georgia peanuts in the shell, and boiling up a big pot of wet nuts is an easy (if not so quick) way to feed a crowd of beer-swilling football fans. (Food writer John Martin Taylor is spot-on when he says to “figure on one pound per beer drinker” and that “3 pounds will feed two boiled peanut lovers through about two beers.”)
Now, a purist will tell you that the only way to season a boiled peanut is with salt. But goober gourmands like Atlanta’s Will Highsmith, the proprietor of Lafayette’s Fancy Boiled Peanuts, has taken to spicing plain nuts with fancy flavors. Highsmith adds jalapenos, beef stock, lemon pepper and hand-crafted curry powder to his jumbo Georgia goober peas and hawks them at Atlanta’s neighborhood farmers markets.
“I was just trying to think of foods that had not been gourmeted up yet. Boiled peanuts were the original street food in Georgia,” said the talky nut-slinger of the food-truck phenomenon that’s recently made taco trucks and popsicle carts a familiar part of our culinary landscape. “Boiled peanuts predate all the other street foods. That’s the original, traditional way of serving food on the streets here.”
His fanciest concoction yet was a habanero/peach/barbecue extravaganza that sold like crazy but is too sauce-heavy to boil on a regular basis.
And it does take patience to turn ground nuts tender. Highsmith remembers his Georgia grandfather taking forever to boil the peanuts of his childhood memories. It's like vacation -- when do we get there? -- and your kitchen will be a sauna.
"Boiling peanuts is more art than science,” Highsmith said. “How fresh or dry they are determines cooking time,” which can range from two to as much as eight hours if you use dried-in-the-shell nuts. (Just don’t use roasted ones.)
Even after cooking for hours, they often need to sit an hour or so longer to absorb the brine and get their deep saline flavor.
Of course, peanuts marry well with sugar as well as salt. As a kid, I remember my mom cooking batch after batch of peanut brittle -- the classic Southern confection made of little more than sugar, corn syrup, butter and raw shelled peanuts.
Brittle-making can be a dangerously hot and intimidating affair. But I recently conquered my fear and had good success on the very first try. The process is simplicity itself. Just invest in a sturdy candy thermometer, wear long sleeves, and avoid contact with the boiling hot syrup.
In a goober shell, I can’t think of a more delicious snack to have around the house this time of year than fresh peanuts -- whether you pull them out of the dirt, pick them off the vines, wash and boil them yourself ... or toast them in a iron skillet with garlic, red-pepper flakes and aromatic lime leaves ... or stir them into amber-colored brittle.
My friend Goobs returned to Michigan before I got into the brittle-making. But peanut candy, packed into a cookie tin and layered between sheets of wax paper, travels well and makes for great gifts. Maybe a peanut parcel is in the mix. I may have left the farm more than 30 years ago, but I have not lost my passion for pushing goober peas.
It's peanut-harvesting time in Georgia, and here we offer three recipes for peanut snacks -- great to have around at game time.
Mrs. Edna Martin’s Peanut Brittle
Makes: 12 servings
Hands-on: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 25 minutes (includes 1 hour cooling time)
A resident of my hometown of Bainbridge, the late Mrs. Edna Martin made excellent peanut brittle. A few years ago, I wanted to run Mrs. Martin’s recipe in a piece I was doing on peanuts for a national magazine. Much to my chagrin, the recipe got cut, but thanks to Mrs. Martin’s daughter, Martha, I am restoring it here. You can find raw shelled peanuts at the area farmers markets. In a pinch, use roasted peanuts. Make sure you use a candy thermometer. Immediately after pouring the brittle, fill the cooking pot with water, place the thermometer and spoons in the pot, and bring to a boil to remove the hardened candy. I learned this brilliant clean-up tip from Atlanta author Virginia Willis’ new book “Basic to Brilliant, Y’all” (Ten Speed Press, $35). You may also add a dash of fine sea salt to this recipe.
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup Karo light corn syrup
2 cups raw shelled peanuts
1/2 stick butter, plus more for greasing pan
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Liberally grease a heavy rimmed baking sheet or marble slab with butter. (An 11-by-17 pan is ideal, but two smaller pans will do.)
In a heavy boiler over medium-high heat, bring to a boil the sugar, water and corn syrup. (Make sure to attach a candy thermometer before the pot gets hot.) It will take about 10 minutes for the mixture to boil. Don’t stir, but swirl the pan from side to side. As the mixture reaches the hard-ball stage (250 degrees to 266 degrees), stir in the peanuts and butter. Continue stirring until the mixture becomes a golden amber or caramel color and is at the hard-crack stage (300 to 310 degrees). Carefully remove from stove and stir in the baking soda. The mixture will foam up. Make haste to pour the candy onto the waiting baking sheet or marble, spreading into a thin layer with an oiled spatula. After the mixture cools into a solid slab (about 3 minutes), flip it over with the spatula; this will make it easier to break up later. Allow the candy to cool completely (45 minutes to 1 hour). Break the brittle into pieces, and store in an airtight container.
Per serving: 382 calories (percent of calories from fat, 36), 6 grams protein, 58 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 16 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 12 milligrams cholesterol, 134 milligrams sodium.
Chili-Lime Peanuts
Makes: 2 cups
Hands-on: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Deep-fried raw peanuts are a wonderful snack, but they tend to fry quickly and burn before you know it. This recipe toasts them in just a couple of tablespoons of oil and is very forgiving. Lime leaves are used in Thai cooking and can be found at Buford Highway Farmers Market and (sometimes) at Your DeKalb Farmers Market.
2 tablespoons canola oil (or peanut or vegetable oil)
2 cups raw shelled peanuts (preferably skinless)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chopped shallots (may use red onion)
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons lime leaves, chopped (plus 3 or 4 additional leaves for garnish, if desired)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Line a baking sheet or cookie tray with parchment.
Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium high heat until sizzling hot. Pour in peanuts and garlic cloves, and cook, stirring constantly, until the peanuts begin to turn a very light brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add chili pepper and salt and stir to coat the peanuts. Stir in red pepper flakes, shallots, scallions, lime leaves and lime juice, and continue to cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. When the nuts are toasted and dry, remove from heat and dump onto tray. Spread evenly and allow to cool, about 15-20 minutes. (If nuts seem a bit wet, you may place them in a 200-degree oven to dry out, checking every 5 minutes or so. This is a matter of preference and is not necessary.) When ready to serve, stir in the chopped cilantro, and place nuts in a serving dish. If using lime leaves for garnish, cut them into thin strips (or small confetti) with kitchen scissors and sprinkle over nuts.
Per (1/2-cup) serving: 498 calories (percent of calories from fat, 72), 20 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams fiber, 43 grams fat (6 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 1,097 milligrams sodium.
Salty Hot Boiled Peanuts
Serves: 6
Hand-on: 15 minutes
Total time: 3 to 5 hours (includes boiling and brine time)
You can boil peanuts with all kinds of herbs and spices, lemon and lime juice, beer, vinegar -- whatever suits your fancy. Atlanta chef Hugh Acheson uses Old Bay seasoning, cider vinegar and star anise. I like them the old-fashioned way -- with lots of salt. Will Highsmith of Lafayette’s Fancy Boiled Peanuts said to season the cooking water until it tastes “like sea water.” Spoken like a peanut poet.
3 pounds green peanuts in the shell
1/2 cup salt
Cold water
Wash the peanuts until the water runs clear, and place in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Fill pot with cold tap water. The nuts should be fully covered with plenty of water to spare (about 2 inches). Bring to a boil over high heat, stir in salt and allow to cook until the nuts inside the shell are soft and tender. This will take 2-4 hours, depending on the age and dryness of the peanuts. As the water cooks down, you will need to add more, so check the pot every 30 minutes. Once the nuts are tender, turn off the heat, and allow them to brine in the hot salty water for 1 hour or longer. (Overnight is fine.) Taste for salt, adding more to water as desired. Serve the nuts piping hot. (Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator in a covered container; just make sure to cover with the cooking liquid to keep them wet. Reheat in microwave or on the stove.)
Per serving: 644 calories (percent of calories from fat, 73), 29 grams protein, 18 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fiber, 56 grams fat (8 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 2,284 milligrams sodium.
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