Boiled Peanuts

Boiled peanuts are a traditional southern snack. Most will say they are best served with beer, sweet iced tea or a cola.

Boiled peanuts are raw nuts that are boiled in salty water for hours outdoors over a fire (in this case, the crockpot) until the shells turn soggy.
 
Ingredients:

    * 1 1/2 quarts raw uncooked peanuts
    * 1/2 cup salt
    * 2 1/2 quarts water

Directions:

Wash Peanuts until water comes out clear. Place peanuts in crock pot, add salt and water; stir. Cook, covered, on HIGH for 8 to 12 hours (overnight OR all day). Add additional water if required to keep peanuts covered.

For Cajun Boiled Peanuts add:
1 bag of Zatarain's Crab & Shrimp Boil

For Spicy Cajun Boiled Peanuts add:
1 tablespoon ground red pepper



For Spicy, Hot, Cajun Boiled Peanuts add:
1 cup sliced jalapeno peppers

Boiled peanuts have a very short life span, so EAT UP!

No one knows just why southerners started boiling peanuts or who was the first to boil them. However, it is believed that boiled peanuts have been a southern institution since at least the Civil War (1861-1865), when Union General William T. Sherman (1820-1891) led his troops on their march through Georgia.

Confederate soldiers adopted peanuts as a cheap coffee substitute along with parched rye, wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, chicory, and cotton seed. Some history books note that Confederate soldiers from Georgia were known as "goober grabbers."

It was during the slave-trading years of the 17th and 18th centuries that the peanut was first brought to the southeastern United States, and for a long time it was assumed that the peanut had originated in Africa. However, peanuts actually originated in Brazil and Peru.