Alright, so this recipe is a southern thing. I've only been living in the southern US for the last ten years. Prior to that the rest of my life was spent in Alaska or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I had never heard of 'green' peanuts. When I first tried them I didn't care for them; it was a textural thing - they're sort of like cold, squishy beans. Since then however, I have grown to like them quite a lot. This being green peanut season, I just got home from the grocery store with the first batch of the summer!
So what you do is go to the grocery store where they are usually sitting in the produce section in a large box of some sort. You scoop them into produce bags until you get your desired amount and then pay by the pound. Around here they're $1.99/lb.
BMG's Green Peanuts:
Green Peanuts (however much you wish to cook).
Enough water to cover the peanuts in your large pot.
01 Heaping tablespoon of table salt per quart of water used.
Directions:
Thoroughly rinse your green peanuts! They come from the store still a bit sandy so rinse them well!
Put them into a large stock pot (I use a 4 gallon canning pot for this).
Fill with enough water to cover the peanuts (keep track of how many quarts you put in the pot!).
Add one heaping tablespoon of table salt for each quart of water you put in the pot.
Bring the peanuts to a boil. Set a timer for 2hrs, reduce the heat to medium, cover and leave them alone. Once the timer goes off drain the peanuts and leave on the counter to cool for an hour or so. Once cool, transfer them to a plastic bag (I find that used shopping bags work just fine for this) and place them in your refrigerator until completely cool.
Serve them cold in a bowl. Eat them while you crack them open (the peanuts in the super soft shells are fine to eat but you should toss aside any that are obviously black and bad on the inside once you crack them open). Be sure to have a container for the empty shells nearby and enjoy!
Notes:
Once they have boiled for 2hrs, they are fine to eat immediately. Folks like them hot, I just prefer mine cold. When they're hot they aren't as salty as when they are cold. Also, some people add other flavors to their peanuts (crab boil, Cajun seasoning, garlic, etc). I don't add any of that fancy stuff because I really like them with just the salt.
I have no idea how far north the availability is for these. I know I had never seen them in AK or MI though. I guess I would suspect that you can get them from Florida to the Carolinas and then west to Texas, but that's just a guess.
If you've never had a chance to try them, but see them in the grocery store during the summer, go ahead and buy a pound and try them out. We use them in place of popcorn!