I Made Popcorn!

Oh, Punxsutawney Phil.  You saw your shadow, and now we're supposed to get 6 more weeks of winter.  If by winter you mean temps in the upper 60s and 70s with a few days of the 50s sprinkled in, then I believe you.  Because our winter this year has basically been our spring.  So yeah.

Anyway, let's get down to the nitty gritty here.  I love popcorn.  I've ruined many a dinner by eating vast quantities of buttery, salty popcorn.  Come to think of it, I've also made popcorn my dinner (or lunch) a few times.  So why have I never made it at home?  Oh well of course I've microwaved it.  But all the fake yellow coloring (um butter does not make popcorn yellow as we will soon see) and the chemicals/preservatives kinda freak me out.  And by the way, they totally don't bother me when I'm at a movie theater.  I'm a study in contradictions.  But as it stands, when I can make something myself, I usually like to do so.

This is one version I made with parmesan and Italian seasoning.  See, the reason I wanted to make popcorn was because I had a movie to watch.

Confession: I'd never seen Zoolander before.  I know!  What have I been doing?  I mean, I knew all about Blue Steel and yadda yadda, but I never actually watched the movie.  Btw, Will still hasn't seen Anchorman, which I've been trying to correct for years now.  A good portion of the reason I finally watched it is because it has a young Alexander Skarsgard.  If you don't know who he is, please use your Google image search pronto.  He's only in the movie for like 2 minutes (and the reason I know he's in it at all is because I use IMDB to stalk more actors' careers than I should admit), but I had to see it.  He's also in True Blood, which I love, and he's basically perfect.  Again, I direct you to Google for proof.

And now that you're totally judging me, I'm going to show you one way to make stove-top popcorn!

We've got: Butter, popcorn kernels, Parmesan, canola oil, Hawaiian grey sea salt, and Italian seasoning.  There's some Maldon sea salt that didn't make it into the picture.  Whomp whomp.  Note: The grey sea salt it totally not necessary.  I just wanted to use one of my fancy salts.

Start by melting a few tablespoons of butter.  I definitely used more butter than this in the end.  What can I say, I love extra buttery popcorn.

Okay so you'll need a deep pot for this.  Add the oil and heat it over medium high heat.  Add a couple of popcorn kernels and put the lid on.  Wait for these kernels to pop.

Immediately add the remaining kernels and a sprinkle of sea salt, remove from the heat, cover, and count for 30 seconds.  Put the pot back on the heat and slide the pot back and forth over the burner.  You'll hear the popcorn popping pretty quickly.  When it slows to a few seconds between pops, take the pot off the heat.  I apologize for my blurry picture.  I had one shot, and I had to do it quickly.  Fail.

Seriously!  I love this stuff.  And I made it!

I let the butter get lightly browned because we all know my feelings on brown butter.  It's the stuff of the gods.

This is the popcorn that just got tossed with butter.

For the classic popcorn, I tossed in a bit of the grey sea salt.

I divided my popcorn into two bowls since I was doing two kinds.  You can make one big batch if you like.  This has been sprinkled with Italian seasoning and Parmesan.  I sprinkled a little more sea salt in for good measure.

If you're wondering, yes, I ate all of the popcorn.  It was my lunch of sorts.  And I enjoyed the movie.  See, now that I know I can successfully do this, I can go on all sorts of tangents!  Dessert popcorn, caramel corn, browned butter and garlic...the possibilities are endless and exciting!

Italian-style Popcorn (makes enough for 2...or 1 over-zealous popcorn eater)

3 tbs canola oil (another high smoke point oil may be substituted)
1/3 c popcorn kernels
Flaky sea salt, to taste
4 tbs butter (more or less to taste), melted and lightly browned
1/2 tbs Italian seasoning
1/2 c grated Parmesan

• Heat the oil in a pot with high sides and a tight-fitting lid (a 3-qt pot is sufficient).  When the oil is hot, add 3 or 4 popcorn kernels.  Cover and wait for the kernels to pop.  Add the rest of the kernels with a sprinkle of sea salt.  Cover and remove from heat.  Count 30 seconds, then return the pan to the heat.  Slide the pot from side to side over the burner.  The popcorn should start popping pretty immediately.  When the popping slows to a few seconds between pops, take the pot off the heat.  Wait another minute.
• Pour the popcorn into a large bowl.  Pour butter over popcorn and season with more salt.  Toss with the Parmesan and Italian seasoning.