Popcorn!

[Bessie]

I know it's not a recipe exactly but how do you guys over the pond make popcorn? I know about popping the corn in a hot pan but how do you get it buttery and salty (and don't just say add butter and salt!! ) I've popped it and added knobs of butter and a bit of salt but I think it has all gone to the bottom. What sort of quantities do I need and what other flavours can you recommend?

Thanks.

Bessie xx

[trixietrack]

you melt the butter in a separate pan. thent add it to the popcorn. don't put too much butter on because pop corn is mostly air.
mix it around and ad salt and mix up. use light grained salt.
I also put some cayenne pepper on it for kicks

most people on this side of the pond have pop corn poppers.

[Bessie]

Thanks - I'll try that. How do I stop it burning? Just keep it moving I guess?

[lushy]

Use a medium heat and keep shaking it around. I also love to add parmesan cheese and garlic powder.

[wonderworld]

Popcorn is my all time favorite snack. I use an air-popper. It pops it fast and perfectly every time with no oil (they're not that expensive, and you can get them online). If I want to add butter, I melt it in a separate pan as trix said. I personally don't like the taste of microwave popcorn.

I'm getting hungry.........

[Helensback]

Hi Bessie,

I once prided myself on the fact that I was the best popcorn maker in the world. Then I lost my pot.

I used this old heavy aluminum pot (see? NOW they say aluminum is not a good thing AFTER all) It was teflon coated - NO is was that SilverStone stuff they came up with. The bottom was about 6" across and the sides slanted out. The coating was cured to a fine golden brown. And it SMELLED like popcorn and that's all I used it for.

I put enough vegetable oil in to cover about 3/4 of the bottom. I had an electric stove and I set it on medium high, but a tad closer to medium. The oil had to start smelling like warm, but NOT smoking oil.

Then I'd pour in Orville.
The pot was about 8" high, so I poured just enough to cover about 1/3 to 3/4 of the bottom.

Then I'd let it sit on the heat until I heard the first few pops. (Oh ya, put the lid on)

Then the wrist comes into play. I'd pick up the wood handle that was just the right size to grip, and proceed to shake all the stuck farts out of the kernels for a second or two. That was always fun.

So it was a series of sitting on the heat and shaking it up until the popping stopped.

But then. Then I'd sit it on the heat and stick my nose close the steam coming from the warped part of the lid. And wait for the smell.

This is the tricky part. You just want a hint of toasting, but NEVER the rank smell of blackened popcorn.

The trick is to get as much browned popcorn as you can, but do not burn.

MEANWHILE (don't you hate that in recipe books?)

Meanwhile you have cut a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of butter from a cold pound square. In a smaller version of the pot described above, you SLOWLY melt it. Swirl it around some on a medium heat while the whole popping popcorn experience is unfolding (no pun intended).

The bowl is ready, of course. I used to use the largest out of a 3 piece PYREX set. It was that awful Golden Harvest colour that was so popular in the 70's. They’re all gone now, RIP.
I always sat the bowl on the stove next to the elements cooking the popcorn and butter. Warm it up a bit. Turn it occasionaly.

Once Venus was aligned with Mars, I'd dump the popcorn into the bowl. But there's an art to this too. Hold pot with your dominant hand and tip it toward the bowl. With your other hand, grasp the knob on top of the lid and open it downward, toward the bowl. Very little spill-over will happen this way and your dog or cat won't try to hork out a hull at 3 am.

The salt. Ahhh now there's the rub. (Ha Ha)

I used table salt and shook the bowl (more of a sliding effect on the counter) awhile I held the salt with, again, my dominant hand and swayed it back and forth with a swishing motion.

At that time there was no gourmet popcorn toppings and I loved it as it was.
However, as I grew as a person, I added a slight variation; a SMALL amount of seasoning salt.

Then I would gather my large glass of pink lemonade (EEEK at that time I thought drinking was just what you did in a bar! - which I did - a lot......)

I digress.

The lemonade, the popcorn, and myself would then retire to the living room. The bowl resided on my lap. The lemonade rested at my left hand on the wide arm of my 1950's Archie Bunker chair.

The cat and my feet were on a mushroom shaped, naugahyde, baby-shit brown footstool I scammed from the Ma and Pa when I moved out.

I played (over and over) Steely Dan and Dire Straights on my stacking record player.

Live was so gosh darn good,

I just felt like sharing it.

[tawnyfrog]

WTF?????

She speaks! At length ...

[lushy]

Someone please call the people in the white coats. Helen is babbling and really needs help.

[Bessie]

Bloomin heck! And there's me thinking you just chucked it in a hot pan until most of it popped!

[Bessie]

Lost your pot? Shouldn't there be an L in that?