North Florida Green Boiled Peanuts
Written by my father; Jim Arnold
If you haven’t noticed, we are pretty serious about peanuts in our family!
Start by checking all local produce markets for the freshest raw green peanuts you can find. This is an art that can take 50 years or more to develop so pay close attention. NEVER, NEVER buy raw peanuts without carefully inspecting them in a see-through bag. You need to check for a light yellowish color and they need to be moist to the touch. Sprouts coming from too many in the bag or lots of cracked open peanuts means they have been out of the field far too long. Keep looking for fresher ones because it’s worth the wait!
Now, the best peanuts are the little ones that you can eat without even shelling them with your teeth. That’s right! Eat the whole thing, shell and all. Of course proper manners dictate that you shell your nuts in your mouth so as to get all the salt off the shell. It also was helpful growing up in the south to be able to drink a beer, drive a stick shift, change radio channels all while have one arm around your gal without having a wreck or slowing down the fun of eating the best snack in the whole world!!
Back to the basics. Next, start nibbling on the raw peanuts on the way home to see if you made a good decision on the quality of your purchase. I usually leave about 75% of the nuts to boil when I finally get home. Next get a large pot of water and pour about 4 seconds worth of salt from the large containers into your water and add peanuts. Turn the heat on high and get a cold beer. Try very hard not to revisit the kitchen for at least 5-10 minutes so the nuts can at least be warm before you start devouring them. Of course you can make an exception if you need another beer or two.
As soon as you begin to smell the rich aroma of the best smell in the world, you’ll know you’re getting close. Don’t resist the temptation to start eating early, because you never know who may show up to help you eat “your” peanuts. It is always- not really – so embarrassing when you’re caught hiding hot peanuts from your friends or worst, your family, so as not to share too many of your special treasures.
Finally, eat as many as you possibly can before they are fully cooked. The Big Secret of perfect peanuts is now out of the bag! Never wait until they’re done to eat em. Then they’re really overcooked.
P.S. If you can’t possible eat all you have cooked, it is best to refrigerate over night or at least until you get home if going out for the night. When coming home after the movies or whatever, there’s nothing better than a coke and chilled peanuts in the bed while watching late night TV. I would caution you to make sure the shells fall away from your spouse as you doze off for the night. Many good relationships have been soured by a bed full of shells. Good Luck!!!
