Peanuts are the cheapest nuts to buy, for the reason that they are not really nuts but legumes. Peanuts contain a good deal of oil, and for this reason are recommended for consumptives. The peanut is also recommended as a cure for indigestion. Almost any kind of nut will cure the habitual indigestion induced by “bolting” the food, if only it be chewed until it is liquid. 

INFORMATION FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

TO BLANCH PEANUTS
To blanch Spanish peanuts the usual way, heat for some time without browning in a slow oven*, stirring often. When cool, rub between the hands or in a bag to remove the skins. The best way to blow the hulls away after they are removed is to turn the nuts from one pan to another in the wind. Spanish peanuts can be obtained already blanched from the nut food factories.

The Virginia peanut, not being so rich in oil must always be blanched the same as almonds. Be sure to let them boil well before draining. You can blanch the Spanish ones that way, too; the results are so much more satisfactory.

When peanuts are partly dried, break them apart and remove the germ, which is disagreeable and unwholesome: then finish drying.

*slow oven – about 200-300 degrees Fahrenheit.

TO BOIL PEANUTS
Put blanched, shelled peanuts into boiling water and boil continuously, from three to five hours, or until tender. (When the altitude is not great it takes Virginias four or five hours and Spanish about three hours to cook tender). Drain, saving the liquid for soup stock and use when boiled peanuts are called for.

PEANUT SOUP STOCK
Use the liquid, well diluted, poured off from boiled peanuts for soups. Large quantities may be boiled down to a jelly and kept for a long time in a dry place. If paraffin is poured over the jelly, it will keep still better. Use one tablespoon only of this jelly for each quart of soup.

PEANUT BUTTER SOUP
Peanut soup for supper on a cold night serves the double duty of stimulating the gastric juices to quicken action by its warmth, and furnishing protein to the body to repair its waste. Mix one cup peanut butter with one cup of milk. Heat two cups of milk in a double boiler. Cook one-half cup chopped celery in one and one-half cups water until the vegetable is tender. Add one grated potato, cook, and stir until the mixture is thickened. Then add it to the hot milk. Also add the peanut butter mixture and season with two teaspoons salt and one-eighth teaspoon pepper. Heat until it is hot. Beat with a Dover egg beater and serve hot.

Dried celery leaves may be used instead of fresh celery.

PEANUT GUMBO
Simmer a sliced or chopped onion in butter. Add one pintstewed okra and simmer five to ten minutes. Add one pint strained tomato, then one quart of baked or boiled peanuts. Turn into a double boiler and add one-half cup boiled rice. Heat fifteen to twenty minutes and serve.

PEANUT SANDWICHES
Shell and skin freshly roasted peanuts and roll them to fine crumbs on a pastry board. Add salt to taste and mix the powdered nuts with enough fresh cream cheese to make a paste that can be easily spread on unbuttered bread. Keep in a cold, damp place until wanted.

PEANUT MACAROONS
Add one-eighth teaspoon salt to the white of an egg and beat until stiff. Add one cup powdered sugar and one cup finely chopped peanuts. Mix well, drop from a teaspoon on a greased baking sheet two inches apart, and bake in a slow oven about fifteen minutes.

PEANUT AND RICE CROQUETTES
Take two cups boiled or baked peanuts and chop very little. Mix with two cups boiled rice, one and one-half tablespoon olive oil, a little sage, savory, or chopped onion, and salt to taste. Shape, dip in egg, then bread crumbs, and bake. Serve plain or with a sauce.

HOT POT OF PEANUTS
Put layers of sliced onion, sliced potatoes, and boiled peanuts into a baking dish, with salt and a slight sprinkling of sage. Cover the top with halved potatoes. Stir a little raw nut butter with water and pour over all. Cover with a plate or close fitting cover and bake two hours. Remove the cover and brown.

PEANUT PIE WITH TURNIP CRUST
Bake or boil peanuts (leaving quite dry when done). Add sliced onion and a little carrot, browned flour, a little tomato, some parsley, salt and celery salt, and garlic if desired. Thicken slightly and put into a baking dish. Cover with mashed turnip, sprinkle with crumbs and chopped parsley and dot with butter. Bake until the top is nicely browned.

PEANUTS BAKED LIKE BEANS
Mix one tablespoon browned flour, one-fourth cup strained tomato and one and one-half teaspoon salt. Put into a bean pot with one pound blanched peanuts (three-fourths quart) and a large quantity of boiling water.

Boil rapidly one-half hour, then bake in a slow oven eight to fourteen hours. Add boiling water without stirring, when necessary. When done, the peanuts should be slightly juicy.

PEANUT BREAD (Twelve slices)
Mix thoroughly two cups flour, four teaspoons baking powder, one-half teaspoon salt, four teaspoons sugar, one-half cup chopped peanuts, one egg and three-fourths cup milk. Stir vigorously for two minutes. Place in a well-buttered bread pan, and bake thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven*.

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