Boiled peanuts

Not everybody lives in a peanut state. Wisconsin, for example, is not at all a peanut state. Georgia, on the other hand, clearly is. What this means is that I can find big piles of fresh, green peanuts at my market and boil them up before dinner. Most people just boil them until tender in a really salty pot of water. That briny treatment is what you get at most roadside stands too--a hot, salty, delicious pile of peanuts. Simple but effective. I used to doctor mine up quite a bit--depending on what I felt like doing, sometimes I'd throw pickling spices or bay leaves in with the salt water. But these days I just toss the hot boiled peanuts in red chile oil for spice and call it a day. I can always get the classic kind while on the road somewhere, after all...

Take a pound of Georgia-grown green peanuts and wash the dirt off them. Bring a big pot of super salty water to a boil. How much salt? Taste it--if it tastes salty, you have enough. Add your peanuts and boil them uncovered until they are squishy soft. It usually takes mine about 25 minutes. Sometimes (like this last time, for example) I add cloves of whole garlic because then the cloves become soft and delicious along with the peanuts. It is definitely not traditional but it's good. When the peanuts are soft, drain them and toss with chile oil. Or not. It doesn't matter as long as you eat them hot. They're so irresistible that they (eventually) even got Ali off the internet to come over and eat some. Serve them with an extra bowl for your guests to dump the shells in.