Cabin fever popcorn

We left Connecticut early on Sunday morning to hustle back to Brooklyn, only to find that I was given a snow day on Monday!  Of course, it was lovely to beat the snow (and have an extra day off!).

The day was filled with cooking and reading and movie watching. And popcorn!

I heard recently that you could make popcorn in a dutch oven. This always seemed like something to leave to the experts and the microwave, but after consulting Joy of Cooking, my confidence grew a bit. 

I'm so happy it did!  Making popcorn this way is easy and so much better than the stuff from a bag. It is, admittedly, a tiny bit more work than the bagged stuff, but I think you'll love the results. 

You will need: 

2 tablespoons cooking oil (peanut, canola, grapeseed, whatever you have around)

1/3 cup popcorn kernels

1 tablespoon melted butter

A generous sprinkle of salt

Coat the bottom of a dutch oven with the cooking oil. Add 2-3 popcorn kernels and cover. Put your burner on medium heat. Shake it around a bit and listen for them to pop; you can also peak inside once in a while. Careful though, that oil is hot!  It took about 2 minutes for my initial kernels to pop.

After those pop, pour in the rest of your popcorn kernels. Shake it around every 30 seconds or so, and listen for the popping!  This will take 2-3 minutes. It's a good idea to turn the heat off once you can count to two without hearing a pop. 

Pour the melted butter over the popcorn and sprinkle with salt. You could be done at this point, or you could add any number of yummy add-ins. Last night we had cheddar and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.  I think garlic powder, chili powder, curry, and cinnamon could all be delicious. 

Enjoy!