Every true-blue Virginian with a love for the great providence of God in the history of the Old Dominion knows that the most delectable delicacy of country cooking antiquity is none other than peanut soup. Forget your chowders and forsake your cheese, chilled, and cream soups. Away with your bisques, borscht, bouillabaisse, bouillon, and broths. Those patriotic palates who relish genuine gustatory glory know that only the peanut can produce a soup of such historic and culinary excellence that could rightly deserve the title — “America’s Soup.”

I first learned of peanut soup while a student in Williamsburg, Virginia. At the time, I was sufficiently impoverished such that I was able to prevent the onset of addiction by limiting my intake to about two bowls a month. In those days, I discovered that the greatest cooks from the finest dining establishments in Williamsburg secretly compete for status of “grand master peanut soup chef.”

When I married my wife, there was really only one culinary condition: Interview the greatest chefs in Williamsburg. Bribe them if necessary, but whatever you do, capture their secret recipes, test them against each other, then present to your husband a well-executed bowl of peanut soup for Thanksgiving Day. (Of course, even a code-red mission like this one is no problem for “super-wife.”)

Beall went to Williamsburg, reconnoitered, conducted covert meetings with top chefs (I am dead serious), talked them into relinquishing their secret recipes, returned home, entered her kitchen laboratory, and conducted experiments until her own peanut potion was perfected. She is now an expert in peanut soup cookery — and I am a very delighted and satisfied husband of a woman who has blessed her household and truly taken dominion over soup. For that I am grateful.

And the drum roll, please.... To the uninitiated, the thought of drinking peanuts may seem a bit daunting. Fear not, neither fret thy taste buds, O weary Pilgrim. This is American soup at its best — a simple soup for the common man, but distinguished with such peanutty accents as to satisfy the most discriminating palates.

For this Thanksgiving Day, I am pleased to reveal the secret recipe for the first time:

Peanut Soup (makes 10-12 servings)

1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 quarts chicken stock or canned broth
1 cup smooth peanut butter (only natural, please)
1¾ cups heavy cream
1½ cups peanuts, chopped (only the best Virginia peanuts, please)

Sauté onion and peanuts in butter until soft, but not brown. Add cream and bring to a soft boil. Stir in flour until well blended. Add chicken stock or broth and salt, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and rub through a sieve. (I have never rubbed it through a sieve. I always put it in a blender until the consistency is fairly smooth.) Add peanut butter, stirring to blend thoroughly, almost boil. Return to low heat, but do not boil. Serve hot or cold, garnished with chopped peanuts.

God Bless You and Happy Thanksgiving