mmm, I like the idea of furikake!


Where do you buy za'atar?

Well, the stuff I have right now I got in Palestine, not helpful.

But, if I were buying more, I'd go to Albany Park, in a store where the bags looked like there was a lot of turn over. Al-khayimeh or some such. And then, you know, monkey with it--more sumac or sesame, because I can't leave it alone.

Petite Princess Amber kernels, whirly-popped with rendered bacon fat, lightly salted. Truly my most favorite snack.

You can get Petite Princess Amber here: http://www.crownjewelgourmet.com/

I'm just bumping this thread to see if anyone has any new popcorn ideas. I'm making a buffet of soups and popcorn for a team of volunteers this Friday, figuring it's a cheap, fun way to feed a lot of people. Vegan popcorn ideas are especially welcome.

Thanks,
Sharon

happy_stomach wrote:I'm just bumping this thread to see if anyone has any new popcorn ideas.

H_S,

Granulated maple sugar for a sweet treat, Vulcan Fire Salt for heat with a twang as it contains, among other ingredients, Louisiana chile mash, habanero and lime peel. I sometimes combine the two for a sweet/heat one-two punch.

Both are available at The Spice House

Enjoy,
Gary

Plain ol' microwave popcorn with either truffle salt or Bacon Salt (depending on my mood).

happy_stomach wrote:I'm just bumping this thread to see if anyone has any new popcorn ideas. I'm making a buffet of soups and popcorn for a team of volunteers this Friday, figuring it's a cheap, fun way to feed a lot of people. Vegan popcorn ideas are especially welcome.

Thanks,
Sharon

A little olive oil spritzed onto popcorn then add granulated garlic, sea salt, paprika, & pepper (I use fresh ground black). I've been on a popcorn kick of late & we usually have this after dinner with butter or olive oil depending on my mood.

G Wiv wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:I'm just bumping this thread to see if anyone has any new popcorn ideas.

H_S,

Granulated maple sugar for a sweet treat, Vulcan Fire Salt for heat with a twang as it contains, among other ingredients, Louisiana chile mash, habanero and lime peel. I sometimes combine the two for a sweet/heat one-two punch.

Both are available at The Spice House

Thanks, Gary, for these suggestions. Despite my sweet tooth, I don't much care for sweet popcorn, but I just had myself a little shopping spree at the Spice House and picked up a bottle of the fire salt and also some shichimi togarashi for popcorn. I thought I'd have to wait until I got home tonight to try out both spices, but for once I felt lucky to have popped corn cakes at my desk. An early afternoon snack:



I love the Vulcan's Fire salt and imagine it'll only be better on freshly popped corn. BTW, I was happy to see the Spice House (Evanston) doing what seemed like brisk business. There were more staff in the shop packing up mail orders than I'd ever seen. I guess 'tis the season(ing).

Haha - I made a food funny!

G Wiv wrote:Fresh popped popcorn, light salt, light butter, with Frosted Flakes. Evocative of caramel corn, but with more crunch, the butterscotch sweetness of the FF played perfectly off the popcorn's butter and salt.

So wrong, yet so right.

Given the outright viciousness this combo presents to ones dietary health I'm happy to see its been three years since I last indulged.

I'm big on using coconut oil to make my popcorn on the stove. I found that spending a few extra dollars and using an organic coconut oil (or just a better quality oil) does make a huge difference in flavor. That is, there's actually a discernible, but not overpowering, coconut flavor.

My favorite toppings are fresh shaved parmigiano reggiano and a few drops of truffle oil.

A somewhat less indulgent favorite topping is plain old fresh cracked pepper.

I've tried making my own caramel corn sans corn syrup by just caramelizing sugar in butter and pouring it over lightly salted popcorn. You get kind of an unappealing, non-uniform coating, but boy does it taste good!

I'm old school, cheap white popcorn which actually tastes like corn (cannot stand Redenbacher, it tastes like styrofoam) in a saucepan with peanut oil, then butter and salt. In Mexico they put chile buffalo on popcorn which is quite good. The aroma of popcorn is one I like, but the Mrs. does not. I do however hate the smell of microwave popcorn, whatever they put in it stinks to high heaven. Someone mentioned Black Cat, that was awesome in the cardboard can, but I haven't seen it in years.

Trying this tonight: http://lemonsandanchovies.wordpress.com ... ers-yeast/

A friend who has a vegan catering service, offered me some of her popcorn that's seasoned with a blend that includes brewer's yeast. It's incredible stuff; I'm hoping this recipe comes close. ( http://www.therootsyvegan.com/6.html )

Mhays wrote:Trying this tonight: http://lemonsandanchovies.wordpress.com ... ers-yeast/

A friend who has a vegan catering service, offered me some of her popcorn that's seasoned with a blend that includes brewer's yeast. It's incredible stuff; I'm hoping this recipe comes close. ( http://www.therootsyvegan.com/6.html )

Mr. X keeps a can of brewer's yeast in the pantry for his popcorn. He learned it from his brother when they roomed together downstate. He uses melted butter and the yeast. I'm not a fan of brewer's yeast on my popcorn, but he hasn't offered it with the garlic and paprika. Maybe I'll make his popcorn next time and surprise him.

I've been really hung up on butter, salt and a good sprinkling of pimentón lately.

Thanks for the Whirlypop suggestions, BTW. Love that thing.

My latest popcorn obsession: GWiv's BBQ rub (from the Spice House because I'm lazy).
Deeply spicy, salty.

And as an aside, I bought a small can of Kraft Mac'n'Cheese popcorn topping when America's Market was closing out, and it's somewhat of a disappointment. It just falls through the corn to the bottom, and the cheese flavor isn't that intense. I imagine buttered popcorn would have more cling factor and dairy notes, but I was trying to find a way to add flavor without much extra fat.

I was at a Chopping Block class yesterday and there was a giant bowl of popcorn sprinkled with Parmesan and truffle salt. Freakin' awesome.

This thread is making me hungry. Unfortuntely I have been off popcorn ever since I ate a small bag of Garretts chicago mix which landed me in the hospital with a severe attack of diverticulitis several years ago. I would love to have popcorn again even if it was only once or twice a year. There is such a thing as hulless (hull - less) popcorn which does not have that brown piece to it which can cause problems. Has anyone tried it?

I have a theater popcorn machine (they were throwing it out and the kids moving it looked the other way as I loaded it into my truck) that had to have an acid bath to get all of the buildup out. However, Popcorn has to be popped in coconut oil. My favorite topping is a light load of melted butter and "Malt Salt". www.maltsalt.com. I used to put malt vinegar in with the butter, but the malt salt works out well with unsalted butter. I often also do a cheese melt with whatever is handy and stir it in with the popcorn. Otherwise, just some of the Kraft mac & cheese topping or a healthy dose of grated parmesan or romano cheese.

I love the Garrett's cheese popcorn. While I have seen recipes for Caramel Corn, I have never seen a recipe for cheese popcorn. Preferably just like Garrett's cheese popcorn. Has anyone ever seen a recipe for cheese popcorn? I did come across one that used the cheese from the Kraft Mac and Cheese box. Which I should have known better, but the results were not good at all! Just wondering if anyone has ever tried to make cheese popcorn. Thanks!

Not like what you like for cheese popcorn, but I melt cheddar (and or whatever is in the fridge) with some butter, put it into the popcorn bowl and swirl, and it comes out like cheese popcorn balls. Putting some grated white hard cheese as it stiffens is just awesome.

I've got one of those Movie-Time poppers with the crank on top. What volume of oil to corn do you guys normally use? I seem to always use too much or too little oil, and use it so infrequently that I forget what the correct proportions are.

Thank you for the cheese popcorn tip exvaxman. I will try that. You might be on the right path because I have been to Garrett's when they are mixing the cheese popcorn and it is a cheese sauce they put on the popcorn. Thanks again!

stevez wrote:I'll bet Corn Pops would work well, too...and would be in keeping with the corn theme. Popcorn with Corn Pops.

This is the only sweet cereal I eat. I usually buy a box each year and eat with Traderspoint milk for dessert or as an indulgence. If Traderspoint isn't available I use half & half.

I think I'm having popcorn for dinner.

MARYC wrote:I love the Garrett's cheese popcorn. While I have seen recipes for Caramel Corn, I have never seen a recipe for cheese popcorn. Preferably just like Garrett's cheese popcorn. Has anyone ever seen a recipe for cheese popcorn? I did come across one that used the cheese from the Kraft Mac and Cheese box. Which I should have known better, but the results were not good at all! Just wondering if anyone has ever tried to make cheese popcorn. Thanks!

The Spice House sells powdered cheddar. If you want a slightly less terrifying color, I like their Taylor Street Cheese blend. A little olive oil, the Taylor Street blend, plenty of fine sea salt, and maybe a little smoked paprika makes for a wonderful movie snack.

MARYC wrote:
The Spice House sells powdered cheddar. If you want a slightly less terrifying color, I like their Taylor Street Cheese blend. A little olive oil, the Taylor Street blend, plenty of fine sea salt, and maybe a little smoked paprika makes for a wonderful movie snack.

Powdered cheddar is actually easy to make at home. I slice really thin with the food processor, put it into the dehydrator, and then into the food processor again to power it. The downside is that it has to be kept in the fridge.

Gale Gand gave us this recipe for cheese popcorn which she made with our cheese powder. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale ... index.html
We can order the powder in a creamy natural color, or a scary bright orange color, but ironically, the customers got upset when we switched to the non orange color!

Thank you all for your help in my quest to make homemade Garrett's cheese popcorn. When I make it I will let you know how it turns out. I can't wait to try it. Thanks again to all for their suggestions.

This is a strange one, but my son experimented with popcorn the other night and put a package of instant Miso soup on it.
He loved it. I was not interested in trying.

An interesting article on a Canadian chef (squirrel sushi anyone?) but it has a decent recipe for maple popcorn in it
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/23/martin-picard-canadas-beaverish-chef/

One of my favorites is putting Tobasco around the outside of the bowl and tossing the popcorn in it. As long as it doesn't become mushy from the hot sauce.