Back on the Peanut Bus

Not that I ever disembarked, but it looks like our nation of ardent peanut lovers is back on the bus. As noted in a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, sales have rebounded for peanut butter, back up to $78 million for a four-week period in July and August (compared to $67.5 million during February in the wake of the infamous Peanut Corporation of America Salmonella outbreak which ended up tainting over 3,000 products and cost around $1 billion in losses—not to mention killing nine people and causing illness in thousands more…). And Kellogg’s noted that sales of those little cellophane-wrapped peanut butter sandwich cracker packs are back to pre-outbreak levels, and even surpassing previous levels in some markets.

American devotion to peanuts runs way too deep to suffer any permanent injury. George Washington Carver can rest easy once again, confident that his beloved peanuts are back on that lofty perch that they so deserve.

Now that our precious peanut butter is back on track and momentum is in the peanut’s favor, perhaps now is the right time for branching off in to new peanut-inspired directions. The time is also ripe for a seasonally astute addition of a peanut-centric menu item—or perhaps even an innovative degustation menu starring peanuts. To help get the creative juices flowing, I submit this recent collection of peanut-proud foods—some serious and some seriously whimsical—for consideration:

• Warm Peanut Crusted Goat Cheese With Roasted Pears Over Mixed Baby Greens
• Liberian Peanut Soup
• PBJ Muffins
• Beef Satay With Peanut Sauce
• Waygu Skirt Steak With Peanut Butter Pasta
• Smoky Peanut Mole With Pork Tenderloin
• Peanut Butter Brownies With Chocolate Chunks
• And just for kicks, Mimetic Peanuts and Deconstructed PB&J a la Homaro or Grant, or perhaps Tom’s Peanut Butter & Jellies