Green Boiled Peanuts

Peanuts - not the most uncommon thing out there. Roasted, butter, chocolate-covered, sauce - most are common to Canadian households. But, I can confidently say, not this type!

Friends that travelled to Georgia in the US were kind enough to bring me back this can of Green Boiled Peanuts made by The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg.

Green. Boiled. Peanuts? What?!

I have kept the can safely in my pantry since their trip in the Spring of 2011. I won't lie, this product was a little intimidating. I decided to 'serve' them as an appy at a dinner I hosted that these friends attended.

What to do with these, what to do wirh these?

I decided to follow the instructions on the label, that is, as best I could.

I put the liquid in a pot, shelled the peanuts and returned them to their brine.

I brought the liquid to a boil and let the peanuts dance in the bubbles for a few minutes.

Then I drained and served them.

Review:

I can honestly say I've never had peanuts like this! They were very, very interesting. They really had no peanut flavour, and actually no peanut texture, not like the peanuts I'm familiar with anyway...

Some of the outer peanut shells were really mushy - I discarded those wholly. If the shells were hard, but the peanut mushy-pulverized, I got rid of those too.

I kept the ones whose shells and nuts were firm were firm.

So what did they taste like? Beans. Salty, briny beans.

They had the same consistency as beans: dense, light and solid. The texture reminded me of black beans and the taste more like a chick pea crossed with a lima bean.

I snacked on them solo and I added them to a green salad. I have to say that I didn't care for them at first but the flavor grew on me. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy these again, but I'm glad I tried them! Good thing too, as they are a delicacy in the south of the US, and likely not available around here!