Thursday, October 6, 2011

Perfect Popcorn


It's officially popcorn-and-cider season here at Chez Thérèse, so in honor of the occasion, I thought I'd share my method for popcorn with almost no old maids.

  1. Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with cooking oil; add a couple of popcorn kernels, cover, and place over medium-high heat.
  2. When your test kernels have popped, add enough popcorn to just cover the bottom of your pan in a single layer.
  3. Immediately cover the pan, remove from heat, and shake vigorously for a full 30 seconds.
  4. Return to heat until popping slows down, shaking frequently to prevent burning and sift the unpopped kernels to the bottom.
Step three is the key here. By shaking the kernels in the hot oil, you bring them all close to popping temperature, so that they are all evenly heated and pop closer to the same time when you return them to the stove. You can also make kettle corn by adding 1/4 c. sugar along with the popcorn, but keep a close eye on it, as it burns easily.

Plain old butter (3–4 T.) and sea salt is the topping of choice around here, but you might also try:
  • Seasoned salt
  • Garlic salt
  • Cinnamon sugar
  • Apple/pumpkin pie spice
  • Ranch dressing mix
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Taco seasoning
If you're looking for less work than the stovetop, you can make your own microwave popcorn simply by putting ½c. of popcorn in a brown paper bag, folding over the top a couple of times, and microwaving for about 3 minutes on high. Way cheaper than buying it, and no hydrogenated faux butter-like stuff.

If you don't want to do dishes, coffee filters make good disposable snack bowls.

1 comment:

Jam said...

I tried this method tonight, and I had much better results than usual! Woo hoo!