December 23, 2024

At Home with GCH: Popcorn, Five Ways

Furikake Popcorn

Furikake Popcorn

I have an admission to make:  I have a popcorn addiction.  It would be physically impossible for me to see a movie in the theater without a big bucket of buttery, salty popcorn on my lap!  When I was pregnant with my second daughter, I was eating a bag of microwave popcorn everyday—until my husband started emailing me news reports of people contracting “popcorn lung” from chemicals used in microwave popcorn.  Undeterred, I now make it on the stovetop.  I’m down to a batch a week, and I’m okay with that.

If you can, look for organic popcorn.  Trader Joe’s has it and at a good price.  You’ll also need a large, heavy-bottomed non-stick pot with a lid, and some kind of oil.  I usually use regular vegetable oil.  You can try peanut oil—it has a high smoke point, so it can withstand high heat without burning or breaking down.  Even better is coconut oil, which I use for popcorn recipes that are on the sweet side.

The technique, if you haven’t made it the old-fashioned way in a long time, is simple.  Add the oil and three kernels of popcorn, heat over medium heat, covered with the pot lid.  When you hear or see the three kernels pop, you know your oil is ready, so add the rest of the popcorn.  Cover the pot and shake every 5 or 10 seconds to keep things moving.  Just like microwave popcorn, remove from the heat when you stop hearing popping.  Add your toppings immediately; cover and shake to distribute.

Usually just salt and butter are enough for me, but sometimes I like to experiment with new flavor combinations.  Here are some of my favorite discoveries.

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Best Kettle Corn

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Add coconut oil and 3 kernels of popcorn to the pot; heat over medium until the three kernels pop.  Add the rest of the popcorn and the tablespoon of sugar.  Cover, shaking frequently, until the popping stops.  Shake on salt to taste (not a lot) and serve.

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Furikake Popcorn

There is a Hawaiian treat called Hurricane Popcorn that includes furikake (a mixture of sesame seeds, shredded seaweed, and other flavors) bacon, and pineapple!  It sounded amazing, but I decided to dial it back and kept it simple.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons furikake

Directions:

  1. Heat oil and 3 tester kernels of corn.  While waiting for the tester kernels to pop, combine butter, soy sauce, and sugar and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, or until the butter melts.  Swirl to combine.
  2. When the tester kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn and pop as directed.  When the popping stops, pour the butter mixture over the corn and sprinkle with furikake.  Cover, shake well to distribute, and serve.

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Truffle Popcorn

If your “date night” this month consists of you and your man snuggling on the sofa and watching a movie, this will fancy it up.  You might even want to change into your nicest sweatpants!  Truffle oil is not that expensive, and if you make mushroom risotto, truffle oil will take it from yummy to HOT DIGGITY DOG!

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons truffle oil
  • 1 teaspoon truffle salt or regular salt

Directions:

  1. Pop as directed in above recipes.  When done, drizzle with truffle oil, shake on truffle salt, shake to coat, and sigh with delight.

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Easy Cheesey Popcorn

Cheese popcorn is my biggest weakness.  I found a shortcut.  I warn you, it’s not pretty.  But it is delicious.  This recipe came about because we’d bought a box of “Easy Mac” macaroni and cheese, and the kids didn’t like it.  Waste not, want not, I always say!

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 packet cheese powder from a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese, or 2 packets from the individual Easy Mac servings
  • OR instead of cheese powder, you can use 2 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast – it has a mild, cheesy flavor, but it is vegan and full of vitamins and minerals.  It’s tasty, but not as tasty as Mac and Cheese powder.

Directions:

  1. Pop as directed in above recipes.  While the corn is popping, melt the butter in the microwave.  When popcorn is done, drizzle on butter and sprinkle on the cheese powder.  Shake well to distribute.  Wolf down popcorn, wash hands to get the orange color off, and eat broccoli for dinner.

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Pick your popcorn flavor!

Pick your popcorn flavor!

Indian Spiced Popcorn

Since you already have the garam masala powder in your pantry (from when you made the drumsticks last week, right?) here is another use for it.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, or coconut oil (I like the coconut oil best—makes it taste more like Chai tea)
  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Add oil and 3 tester kernels to the pan over medium heat.  While waiting for the tester kernels to pop, heat the butter in the microwave to melt.  In a small bowl, stir together garam masala, sugar, and salt.
  2. Pop corn.  When done, drizzle butter over and shake garam masala powder onto popcorn.  Cover with the lid and shake to distribute.

 

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana


To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!



If you would like to contact Dana in regards to this blog, please email her at Dana@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

At Home with GCH: Indian-Spiced Drumsticks

Indian-Spiced Drumsticks

It’s funny how some foods are relegated to specific dates on the calendar.  For instance, canned pumpkin is on the shelves in my grocery store twelve months a year, and yet we only think about pumpkin pie for one, maybe two months a year.  If you were to show up to an Easter brunch with a pumpkin pie, I guarantee you’d get some really strange looks!  Likewise, Buffalo wings have been pigeonholed into being a “party” food, and rarely show up for the family dinner.  Why is that?

Wings are not hard to make, but I feel like they’re a little hard to eat.  So I made a recipe that is a twist on the fiery-hot Buffalo wings, and is easier to eat, because it calls for drumsticks instead of wings.  There’s no frying, you control the level of heat, and they are easy to make and eat.  What’s not to love?

The secret ingredient is not-so-secret, since I bought it at Target!  It’s an Indian spice blend called garam masala.  Garam masala recipes vary by neighborhood and family in India, so there’s no one authentic combination of spices.  The one that I bought features black pepper, cardamon, coriander, and cinnamon.  It smells sort of like Chai tea, but is not sweet in and of itself.  If you can’t find garam masala, you can substitute one part ground cumin and one part pumpkin pie spice.

garam masala

The traditional accompaniment to Buffalo wings is carrot and celery sticks with bleu cheese dressing.  To make this a dinner, why not serve a big salad with bleu cheese dressing, or even a fancy wedge of iceberg lettuce with bleu cheese and diced bacon?

Indian-Spiced Drumsticks

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 drumsticks
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 2 tablespoons (or more!) hot pepper sauce, like Tabasco or Sriracha
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala, or 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 lime, lemon, or orange, juiced
  • a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Spray with cooking spray, and lay out the drumsticks.  Don’t crowd them – make sure there’s plenty of room around them!  Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and lower temperature to 250*F.
  2. Make the sauce:  In a very large pot, add all the remaining ingredients.  Stir together over medium-low heat.  When the sauce is simmering, add the drumsticks and stir for 5 minutes, making sure to coat the drumsticks thoroughly.
  3. Remove wings from sauce and place back on the baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Serve hot, with extra hot sauce if desired.

Note:  I really apologize for the shoddy quality of the photo.  I made these drumsticks on a whim for my husband and his brother for the Super Bowl.  I wanted time to set them up, make them pretty, maybe add a garnish – but no!  The men needed protein NOW!  Next week I promise to have an attractive photo for a tasty dish.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana


To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!



If you would like to contact Dana in regards to this blog, please email her at Dana@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? The International Pantry

Most of the recipes on GCH: What’s on Your Plate are for delicious dishes that may not even require a trip to the store to make tonight.  That might not be the case with my contributions!  If you’ve always wanted to try a Mexican, Korean, or Indian recipe but didn’t know where to start, I’m here with a primer for some basic things to stock in your pantry and refrigerator.

The Korean Kitchen

I am biased:  I love Korean food!  There aren’t any complicated techniques to master (I’m looking at you, French bistro cuisine!) and it relies mostly on fresh vegetables and a few simple condiments.  I highly encourage you to find an Asian or Korean grocery store and try some recipes out.  Here’s what to buy to get you started.

Sesame Oil:  This dark, nutty oil is a base flavor in most Korean recipes.  Any brand is fine, and your neighborhood Safeway or Kroeger may stock it in the Asian aisle.

Soy Sauce:  You probably already have this.  Kikkoman is definitely in your grocery store right now!

Rice Vinegar: A delightfully sweet-tart vinegar that is fresh-tasting and light.  I use it often in salad dressings.

Garlic:  In James Clavell’s classic samurai novel Shogun, the Japanese guards refer to Koreans as “the garlic-eaters”.  They meant it as an insult, which is incomprehensible to me!  Garlic is very healthy for you, and is found in many cuisines around the world.  I mean, imagine Italian food without garlic!  I buy it whole because it’s cheaper that way, but if you don’t want the trouble of mincing it to order, feel free to buy a jar of minced garlic to live in your fridge.

Green Onions:  You know, just your basic green onions.  And unless you’re making dessert, you can almost guarantee a Korean recipe will call for minced green onions.  Thankfully, if you buy them in an Asian grocery, they are going to be shockingly cheap to purchase.  In fact, every Asian grocery store I have been in has fresher vegetables at better prices than the American grocery store.

Ginger:  A common flavor agent in Korean food.  Buy a whole “hand” of ginger, or buy minced ginger to go in your fridge.  Be sure to buy regular minced ginger, and not the pickled kind they serve with sushi.

Doenjang:  Pronounced “den jong”, this is fermented bean paste.  It’s basically a stronger, chunkier version of Japanese miso paste.  This flavors many soups and stews, and lends a meaty, salty savor.  It can live happily in your refrigerator for a good year – after all, it’s already fermented!  When you buy it, read the ingredients – make sure there are no added flavors, like anchovies, and that you’re getting just plain doenjang.  Most brands feature helpful illustrations to help us non-Koreans out!

Gochujang: Pronounced just how it looks, “go chu jong”, this red paste looks scarier than it is.  If you like Sriracha hot sauce, you’ll love gochujang.  It is hot, fruity, sweet, and complex.  Koreans love this fiery paste and will sometimes serve a side dish of whole green onions to dip in gochujang.  That’s a little hardcore for me, but in smaller amounts, it is a tasty and welcome splash of spice.  And to make it easier, doenjang is always sold in a little tan tub, and gochujang is always sold right next to it, in a little red tub.  Don’t worry, you can’t confuse them.

Kimchi:  The iconic dish is the Korean version of sauerkraut – pickled cabbage that will cure any cold!  There are also radish and cucumber versions.  Pick up a jar and see if you like it.  I love it, and I love the huge dose of Vitamin C it gives me.  Koreans eat kimchi and rice with every meal.

Rice:  This is not the Uncle Ben’s variety.  You’ll need short-grain, Japanese-style rice.  Two popular brands are Calrose and Shirakiku.  And yes, it’s supposed to be sticky!

Everything else for your Korean recipes will be vegetables or some meat.  Common vegetables used are zucchini, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, eggplant, cabbage, onion, and bean sprouts.  These should all be purchased fresh, of course, and for the most part, once you have the basic condiments, you can go to the regular grocery store for the other things you need.

Indian Ingredients

Indian food is a delightful way to explore different flavors, textures, and techniques.  It’s also a wonderful choice for vegetarians, or people looking to cut down on meat, since recipes using beans and vegetables abound.  Here are some basics to get you going.

Curry:  As I mentioned last week, curry comes in powder, paste, and sauce form – but I would avoid the sauces, since they are diluted, and you can’t control the salt, heat, or viscosity of the finished product.  Instead, go to your regular grocery store, and look in the spice aisle.  Last time I was there, I counted six different curry powders!  They are all similar, in that they probably contain turmeric, mustard, coriander, and cumin.  But they diverge there, and each has other spices – ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, allspice – in a different balance of flavors.  I recommend that you buy two different brands.  Open them, smell them, and see which you like better.  I have three right now – one is sweeter, one is more bitter, and one is hotter.  I use them in combination, or pick which one goes better with the recipe – the sweeter one for squash or carrots,  the hotter one for meat.  As for pastes, these are more specific and uniform – one brand’s Madras curry paste will be very similar to another brand’s.  I like Madras, as it’s a very balanced mix of sweet, bitter, spicy and hot.  It’s another condiment that doesn’t take up a lot of space in the fridge, lasts forever, and adds a unique kick to everything it mixes with.

Whole spices:  I can’t recommend whole spices highly enough!  Now just to be clear, I’m not a zealot:  please buy ground cinnamon and not sweat and curse over trying to grind down a cinnamon stick for your next batch of snicker doodles!  But if you did a taste-test of prepackaged ground cumin versus whole cumin  toasted and ground at home, you’d go kick that name-brand jar right out of your spice cabinet!  I always have whole cumin, mustard, and coriander seeds on hand.  Believe it or not, Mexican and Indian cuisines share a lot of flavors:  garlic, cumin, onion, peppers, and cilantro, just to name a few.  The cumin will certainly not go to waste if you do any kind of “international” cooking.

Rice:  Sorry, you can’t use Japanese / Korean / Chinese rice in Indian cooking!  But Indian, Thai, and other south Asian cuisines use the same rice: either basmati or Jasmine rice, and you can find both in white and brown varieties.

Everything else in Indian food should be purchased fresh.  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, spinach,lentils, chickpeas, and green beans are all common ingredients.  Indians also make great use of chicken, so if you cut out red meat from your diet, check the multitude of chicken presentations.
Sorry this was so long.  I just got excited sharing the little bit of knowledge I have of what some people may consider non-traditional cooking.  Now get out there, and be a culinary adventurer!
Explore, experiment, and enjoy! — Dana
For more, visit me at Frugal Girlmet!