What a simple and delicious snack if you are fortunate enough to have access to fresh, raw Peanuts. I’ll never forget the first time that I saw and tasted this treat. We were returning a rental car to the airport in Texas and we stopped at a little gas station to fill up. I went into the little store to get some snacks for the plane, saw them in a soup pot and I scratched my head and thought, “What in the world?”? Just had to try them! They were messy and slurpy, soupy good and the peanuts were soft, salty and a bit spicy, pretty much just like my homemade Pinto beans. (Recipe in the files) What a treat, so now I cook them the same way that I do my pinto beans except that I use more salt. The water has to be salty to penetrate the peanuts.
Boiled Peanuts, a southern tradition usually takes all day to cook right, but the Instant Pot makes this deliciousness happen in just a few hours. (2 hrs plus some NPR time.).
1-24 oz pack of fresh Raw Peanuts cleaned and washed
9 c Water
1 regular sized sweet onion, rough chopped
6 cloves Garlic, rough chopped
1/4 c SEA Salt (yes 1/4 CUP) needs to be salty . If using regular Salt..taste after 3 Tbsp. It needs to taste like SALTY Sea Water.
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tbsp Evoo or 2 slices Bacon chopped
Make sure Peanuts are sorted and washed.
Dump Peanuts and all other ingredients into the pot.
Invert a lotus steamer and push it down on them…see pic, to hold the peanuts under the liquid, and weigh it down with a measuring cup full of water, or find something heavy. Put the lid on and set the time for 2 hours on HI pressure. Allow 20 min NPR.
Open the lid, remove the weight and steamer, stir the Peanuts into the juice. Dish some up in a Bowl and get a little of the broth. Get a couple of Napkins! Careful, they are hot, you may want to cool them to touch before eating. Pick one up with your fingers and suck the juice out of it then bite down gently to pop it open, then squeeze with your fingers to open. ENJOY! Uh….you got something on yo face?.
