Peanuts fit the bill
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Ah, peanut butter, balm of many a school lunch, sustenance of snack time, a friend in need when the pantry is bare.
Peanuts, and the resulting creamy spread are an ancient food from South America (The Incas were buried with jars of peanuts for the afterlife). The Spaniards stumbled across them, took them all over the globe and eventually back to North America, where they were established in the southern Atlantic states.
Now the peanut is a billion dollar global industry. It’s not actually a nut, but a legume. Ever wonder where the name “goober” came from? In the Congo, “peanut” is “nguber.” So, as the Spaniards — who took the peanut to Africa in the first place — brought back slaves for the Americas, they also brought a nifty addition to the American lexicon.
One of my absolute favorite things while on the way to St. George Island in the big bend of Florida was to pull off the road for a couple of scoops of Buddy’s Hot Boiled Peanuts. This is a regional treat found through the coastal South and you just don’t know how tasty they are!
Boiled peanuts are similar to edamame, and full of salty goodness. You pop the whole pod in your mouth, suck all the juice out, crack the shell with your teeth, suck out the peanuts, expel the shell and chomp down. It’s almost as complicated as eating a crawfish, but no whiskers!
You’re not going to get green peanuts around here, so you’d better go on-line. I found two sites that offer this delicious snack: www.hardyfarmspeanuts.com and www.southernboiledpeanuts.com. You cannot use dried or roasted peanuts in the shell, they must be fresh-out-of-the-ground green peanuts.
BUDDY’S BOILEd
PEANUTS
2 - 3 quarts water
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 lbs. green peanuts
Put the water in a large stock pot, add the salt and bring to a boil. Add the peanuts and simmer for 1 to 2 hours, testing a peanut occasionally, until the shells tear open with ease and the peanuts inside are completely tender.
Drain and serve warm. Leftovers (as if!) can be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to two days. Heat cold peanuts in the microwave before serving (they’re not good cold, trust me).
Here’s a spicy chicken salad for you from www.peanut-institute.org. This is actually a salad, not a sandwich spread, although you could tweak it into one and serve in a pita pocket (use lettuce as a garnish, eliminate the chicken broth, maybe toss in some yogurt).
THAI CHICKEN SALAD WITH PEANUTS AND LIME
2 cooked chicken breasts
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup diced cucumber
1 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
Pull the chicken meat from the bone and shred it. Place lettuce in a large bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, tomato and green onions.
In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, and sesame oil. Pour this mixture over the salad. Top with peanuts just before serving.
Peanuts and sweets seem to be a perfect pair. This is a quick and easy microwave method for a childhood candy.
Back in 2004 we published Kyle Barnhart’s award winning Cashew Brittle recipe, so I pulled it up and substituted peanuts for today. Kyle had said at the time that any nut would do and he’s absolutely correct.
MICROWAVE
PEANUT BRITTLE
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanuts (or nut of choice)
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
Grease a cookie sheet and set it aside. Stir the corn syrup and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl that will hold at least 3 cups of liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir in the peanuts and microwave another 4 minutes. Mixture will start to look brown. Add in the butter and vanilla and microwave on high for 1 more minute. Stir in the baking soda until the mixture foams and immediately pour onto cookie sheet. Allow to cool (it cools faster if you set it on a wire rack). Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. Thanks again, Kyle!
Creamy peanut butter, so smooth on the tongue. How about a scoop of peanut butter ice cream to go with this cheesecake from www.peanut-institute.org?
PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE
2 lbs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Powdered sugar or mint
Cookie Crust:
10 peanut butter cookies
1 tsp. sugar
2 - 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
Nonstick spray
First make the crust: Crumble the peanut butter cookies in a small mixing bowl. Add sugar and melted butter to make a crumbly dough. Spray a 9-by-3-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. Pour in the cookie dough and press into a firm crust using your fingertips or a spoon.
Preheat oven to 350º F. Combine cream cheese and peanut butter in a large bowl. Beat the mixture at high speed until smooth. Gradually add sugar and flour. Beat on medium speed until sugar and flour are incorporated well into cheese and peanut butter mixture. Scrape ingredients from side of bowl before adding eggs.
Add eggs gradually and continue to beat on medium speed for two or three minutes until mixture is smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract. Be careful not to over-mix. Pour batter into prepared peanut butter cookie crust.
Place cheesecake in oven on center rack. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for approximately 2 hours in 350 degree oven or until tip of a knife comes out clean when inserted in center of cake. Dust with powdered sugar or sprinkle with chocolate curls.
The jury is still out on whether we’ll have fresh peaches this year, so just in case I have some lovely peach recipes for you next week. Let’s get cooking!