How To: Make peanuts & ham

Learn to make boiled peanuts and hickory smoked ham in the deep Southern tradition. To make boiled peanuts you will need: Large stock pot filled with enough water for boiling, 3/4 - 1 1/4 cup salt, 1 - 5 bay leaves, 1 tbsp. Extra Hot powdered red pepper4 lbs. raw peanuts in shell3 - 4 lb. Lid (used to make kimchi or pickles). Combine all ingredients in the pot and place weighted lid on top. Bring water to a boil. Turn the heat off and allow the peanuts to absorb the salted water until there is no longer water on top of the lid. Add enough water to boil the peanuts once more. Peanuts are ready once they are soft. To make the hickory smoked ham, you will need: Clean power drill wire, large uncooked ham, salt, smoker, smoking pot, hickory wood, wedges and chips, charcoal. Drill a hole through the bone of the ham at least 1 inch from the top edge. Cut thread wire through the drilled hole and create a loop for hanging. Wash the ham and trim back skin (optional), leave on some excess fat and some skin around the wire loop. Heat the smoker the smoker using wedges of hickory wood and charcoal; the temperature should be between 225 and 250 degrees. Place the ham on the hook at the top of the smoker. Place the smoking pot full of hickory chips in the bottom of the smoker. Check on the smoker every hour or so to make sure the smoking pot is still going; reload chips when they are no longer smoking. When checking the ham if the ham is to a darkness of your liking you can remove the ham and place in an oven preheated to 250 degrees and cook until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 145 degrees. The ham should take 6 -7 hours to cook; be sure the internal temperature is 145 degrees before serving. When ham is done remove from smoker and slice to serve. Two simple recipes to make two delicious Southern style dishes.