Peanut, Peanut Butter, Jelly...

Part One: The Peanut Butter

We were browsing through the Riverside Farmers Market this morning, enjoying the new addition of live music, when I saw a vendor with a large bin of fresh peanuts.    Fresh peanuts?  Why not!   I was sure I could figure out something to do with them.

Shell, innards, raw, and roasted

Once we got home, we began shelling the peanuts.   Remember, peanuts are a legume and not a nut.   The fresh peanuts must have been harvested mere days ago.   They were still moist inside and out.   When you buy peanuts in the store they are usually dry roasted or at the very least dehydrated.   Fresh, raw peanuts are more like a pea or soybean in texture and flavor.   The inside of the shells is moist and squishy and the skin surrounding the peanut is still soft.  The peanut itself is a pale white and is very soft.

Partially roasted peanuts

Once the peanuts were shelled, I experimented with roasting them.   Our apartment gets very hot when the oven is on.   I decided to roast the peanuts in the toaster oven to keep the apartment a little cooler.     After ten minutes at 300 degrees, I flipped the peanuts and kept them roasting.   They developed a lovely sheen as the water escaped from the peanut and the color turned from white to the more traditional "peanut brown".   After about 40 minutes I decided the peanuts were done roasting.   They were still a little moist but they were no longer sticky.   

Next experiment: Turning Peanuts into Peanut Butter.     As newlyweds who opted not to register for traditional wedding gifts, we do not own a food processor.    Our mortar and pestle were a little small for mashing peanuts, so I got out the trusty blender.    After blending the nuts for about 8 minutes, it started to resemble natural peanut butter.  To make the texture a little smoother I added about a tablespoon of peanut oil.    More blending and there it was at the bottom of my blender: Fresh Homemade Peanut Butter!

So I didn't make much but it's a start

Three hours and half a cup of peanut butter.   Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.    

Homesteading is a science and an art.   It definitely requires experimentation. Next time I will probably roast the peanuts for a little longer or try roasting them while still in the shell.   And I will probably buy more than a couple handfuls of peanuts.