Spice Up Your Popcorn

Hello!

I’m new here and for my first post, I thought it best to share with you one of my favorite things.

Popcorn!

I think popcorn is one of the world’s most underappreciated snack foods.

While at first glance it may appear to be somewhat boring, I’m here to stand up for the awesomeness that is popcorn and share with you all the ways I enjoy it. Or at least several ways I enjoy it.

At this point, I’m up to 36 different spice combinations in my Popcorn Library. But I don’t wish to overwhelm with my first post, so instead, I’ll share my totally scientific (cough) method of popcorn experimentation and hopefully inspire you to boost your popcorn satisfaction.

A slight tangent, but when I research something, I go all out. I just finished a two year quest to find the perfect antiperspirant/deodorant. Really. There may be a future post on that, but not today.

So. Popcorn. In case you are not already an aficionado, let me convince you that popcorn is good for you. There are not a lot of snacks you can say that about.

To be fair, the healthiest popcorn is plain and air popped. However, you can still enjoy the benefits of popcorn even if you add some butter and salt or spices.

It’s all in the method. There is no need to drown the popcorn in butter to make it tasty. Think of the butter, should you choose to use it, as the glue on the canvas of popcorn art.

Ok. Maybe I’m overstating it. Let’s get down to it.

The first thing to consider is how you’re going to pop it. I don’t go for the completely dry air popped usually. I also don’t abide by prepackaged microwave popcorn. After starting more than one fire in my microwave trying to dry pop in a brown bag lunch bag, I turned to the internet for help.

Turns out, there are several serviceable microwave vessels to pop your corn. I decided on one with a melamine bowl and a plastic top with excellent air vents.

The beauty of this popper is you can pop dry or with some oil or butter.

I have tried both and I usually like a tsp of oil (usually olive, but I also like sesame and peanut) and 1/3 c of popcorn.

Directions say you should set it for 3-4 minutes, but I go by the rule that once there is a two second lapse between pops, you’re done. For me, that's just under 3 minutes. YMMV.

Now onto the good stuff.

Even if you pop it with some oil, your spices will likely fall to the bottom. Here are some that kind of stick.

1.     Cinnamon/sugar—for whatever reason, even without butter, cinnamon and sugar has good stick. Amp this combo up with nutmeg, allspice, and star anise. A little goes a long way here.

Consider also pumpkin pie spice. I know. It sounds weird, but I promise you’ll have a spicy snack that doesn’t at all resemble a pumpkin pie.

2.     Chipotle/Adobe/Smoked paprika—I don’t suggest all three at once, but I’m suggesting a spicy smoky profile. I’ve tried them all.

I tend to the smoked paprika, but I recently tried an Adobe seasoning with finely chopped jalapenos that was pretty great.

This is something else to broaden your horizons. Wet things. I used canned jalapenos because fresh sunk like a rock…and they were tasty. Include enough of the juice to make it stick but not result in soggy popcorn.

Also, while we’re on the topic, chili seasoning is amazing on popcorn.

Also, pickles are great on popcorn. But they need to ride solo.

3.     Smoked salt—enough said.

4.     Italian—I won’t spend a lot of time on this because most of you have already figured it out. Garlic salt is excellent on popcorn. But have you considered basil, oregano, and thyme? Because of their wide surface area, they tend to stick on popcorn without extra glue (read: butter)

5.     Cheese—frankly, cheese is a tricky thing. You don’t want to administer cheese in large amounts that makes everything gooey and disguises the star that is popcorn. So, you’ll want to finely grate the cheese. I like a pecorino, but a finely grated Parmesan is also great.

Penseys puts out a cheese blend you should look into.

6.     Truffles- - I love me some truffle salt and although a little spendy, I recommend it highly. Even some white truffle oil would be awesome. This one I use with butter. Actually, I like it with butter, truffle salt, and some finely grated Parmesan.

7.     Curry—I’m not a curry expert, but I have used a variety of curry spices with some butter and loved it. In addition to garam masala. I have used a Balti and a Maharajah spice blend. Still from Penzeys. Not too hot, but with an amazing spice.

I think I’ve gone far enough tonight. I hope I have inspired you to think of the humble popcorn in a new way. It’s a canvas. Go forth and spice!