Spicing up the lowly legume

It started with a peanut and, later, a spicy peanut.

Last year the Suffolk Peanut Festival, which is still going on today, kind of snuck up on me. A few weeks ago I decided that wouldn’t happen again. I would salute the mighty peanut in my own way.

So I asked for recipes where peanuts play a big part. Soon after, Doug Lane, founder of Virginia Heaters in Carrollton, shot an e-mail off to me with recipes, including one for jalapeño peanut butter cookies.

Yum.

Virginia Heaters doesn’t sell heaters – they make and sell peanuts specially infused with jalapeño or habañero peppers. It’s a Lane family secret exactly how it’s done, but the main thing is the pepper’s spice and flavor permeate the inside of the peanut.

That means there’s no coating on the outside, which, if you’re trying to bake – or just keep your hands clean – is a very good thing. No gunk messing up the works.

So I headed out to Carrollton to get the peanuts to make the cookies. When I dropped by the store, Doug was there with some freshly made cookies all ready for me. Nice and crisp and peanutty with a gentle kick.

He loaded me up with the jalapeño peanuts, which are kind of spicy, and the habañero, which are really spicy.

Before I could make the jalapeño peanut butter cookies, I needed to make the jalapeño peanut butter. Luckily, Doug had a recipe for that, too – essentially, put the peanuts into a food processor and blend until you have peanut butter.

I don’t actually have a food processor but thought I might be able to get away with a blender – a pretty cheap blender, truth be told.

It ground the peanuts to crumbs, but when after a couple of minutes I could smell the blender’s motor more than the peanuts, I figured that was a bad sign and turned it off.

So, I stood there staring dumbly at the peanut pieces for a while and then decided I wouldn’t make jalapeño peanut butter cookies. I’d make jalapeño peanut cookies.

To make up for the lack of moisture the peanut butter would have added, I put in an extra egg. Then, I dumped a cup of jalapeño peanut pieces into the mixture instead of a half cup of peanut butter.

The result was a softer, cakelike cookie, which seemed to go over well in the office. Most of my friends seemed to like them (of course, I was standing there looking hopefully at them, but I can usually tell when people are faking just to be nice).

But if you want the peanut butter cookie the way Virginia Heaters meant them to be, they have a stand at the Peanut Fest and might have some on hand. Meanwhile, I’ve given you both recipes, over there to the left on this page.

And, while I was at it, I decided to make some peanut dinner to go with my dessert. Picked a couple of promising recipes from the slew available at the National Peanut Board – Spicy Mexican Peanut Soup (which I particularly liked) and Cucumber Peanut Salad. Those recipes are here, too. I made mine even spicier with the habañero peanuts.

They’re also pretty quick to make. Plenty of time to make them after, say, you visit the last day of the festival today at Suffolk Executive Airport, where it runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Jalapeño Peanut Butter Cookies
Courtesy of Virginia Heaters in Carollton

Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter (salted or unsalted) at room temperature
½ cup Virginia Heaters medium or hot jalapeño peanut butter (which you make from the peanuts)
1 egg
1¼ cup sifted flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugars. Cream for 2 more minutes. Mix in the Virginia Heaters peanut butter and the egg. Mix together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar butter mixture.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into a 1¼-inch ball. Place about 3 inches apart on a ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork.

Bake until light brown. Cool on baking sheets for a minute. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

For an added treat, melt semi-sweet chocolate morsels and place between cookies for a sandwich.

Nancy’s Improvised Jalapeño Peanut Cookies
When my blender couldn’t handle turning peanuts into peanut butter, I changed the Virginia Heaters recipe (at left)  to suit my circumstances. For one, I added an extra egg, making for a more cakey cookie, while the original is nice and crispy. It all depends on what you like – both have a nice kick.

Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup ground Virginia Heaters jalapeno peanuts
2 eggs
1¼ cup flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and ground peanuts.

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix dry ingredients with butter/peanut/sugar mixture.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until they are a light golden color.

Cucumber Peanut Salad
National Peanut Board
www.nationalpeanutboard.org

Ingredients:
¹/³ cup rice vinegar
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
3 tablespoons water
2 cucumbers, preferably English or hothouse, halved lenghtwise and thinly sliced
¼ cup small tellow onion, thinly sliced
10 mint leaves, chopped
Jalapeño chilies, thinly sliced, 1 each or to taste
6 sprigs cilantro – fresh, chopped
2 tbsp. peanuts, roasted, chopped – for garnish
1 tbsp. shallots, fried, optional

Combine rice vinegar, sugar, salt and water in a mixing bowl until well blended.

Add cucumbers, onion, mint, chili and cilantro and toss well. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Garnish with chopped peanuts and fried shallots if using. 

Makes 3 cups

Spicy Mexican Peanut Soup
National Peanut Board
www. nationalpeanutboard.org

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
2 cans (14½ ounces each) peeled, diced tomatoes with green chilies
½ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley
¼ cup chopped peanuts

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until onion is transparent.

Add chicken, tomatoes, peanut butter, salt and red pepper flakes. Heat, stirring occasionally, until peanut butter is melted.

Blend in buttermilk and cook until heated throughly. Stir in cilantro or parsley.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts. 

Makes 4 servings (1½ cups per serving)

Nancy Young, 222-5559, nancy.young@pilotonline.com