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Popcorn. Lovely, buttery, crunchy, melt in your mouth, popcorn. I could eat it everyday. Sadly, my thighs might begin to hate me, should I feed “the baby” popcorn everyday. There is much to say and bicker over when it comes to the creation of the perfect popped kernel. Some things to think about:
What kind of kernel? White, yellow, blue, heritage, on the cob?
How should I heat it? In a pot with oil, in an air popper, in the *shudder* microwave?
What toppings are best? Butter, salt, truffle oil, nutritional yeast, grated cheeses, sugar, spices, herbs, oil, pepper, so many choices!
So here is my take. Popcorn is very personal. Some people are content to pop a bag of store bought microwave popcorn with hellish “flavourings” into the microwave and wait 3.5 minutes for heaven. I’m too scared of the dreaded “popcorn lung”. It may take a few hundred bags, but the sheer fact that it can happen has scared me away from ever buying it again. When camping, Jiffy Pop is a great alternative to the oil drenched popcorn in a pot trick. Quick and entertaining, the bag expands right before your eyes! You can flavour it however you like.
I used to make popcorn in a pot with lots of oil (a la Alton Brown), but I always had a distatse for the way the popcorn remains somewhat chewy. Maybe I wasn’t heating it hot enough, fast enough, but then my husband came along.
His method of air popping and his patented buttering technique have me smitten. This time of year, when the snow is falling (or not) and there is a chill outside, it’s nice to come home to your sweetheart (and or children) and snuggle up on the couch, throw on a DVD and make a big bowl of popcorn for everyone to share. One of my favourite things to do has to be curling up on the couch and watching my little boy’s eyes light up when the bowl makes it over to the living room. Eyes wide, hands plunging into the bowl, he is in toddler heaven! It’s a rare moment of quiet and I treasure every second of it. So let me share my husband’s perfected popcorn popping method. (Sorry all you pot poppers, but this is an air popping technique!)
Perfect Every Time Popcorn
You will need:
Air popper
1/4 cup Popcorn kernels
1/4 cup Butter
Salt
A large bowl
Napkins
1. Heat your air popper without anything in it, for about 2 minutes. This ensures the metal inside is warm and ready to go when you add the popcorn.
2. Heat 1/4 cup of butter until melted. In bottom of receptacle bowl, pour in a Tbsp or so and add a sprinkle of salt. This ensures that even the popcorn on the bottom gets a little flavour too.
3. Add kernels to heated air popper and allow kernels to pop completely. Do not unplug machine until all kernels have finished popping.
4. Using a teaspoon, sprinkle butter over popcorn as it pops. Add salt if desired and continue to do so until all kernels are popped. Toss bowl, add remaining butter and salt.
5. Enjoy with your favourite people!
Well, I finally had to do it. I had to add watermarks to my pictures. Why? Rampant theft and violations of clearly stated copyrights. It’s sad isn’t it? I’ve found people taking credit for my recipes from Tokyo to Russia and everywhere in between. The worst is finding my recipe AND the accompanying pictures being displayed under someone else’s name. Now, at first I shrugged it off as part of being an online presence, but then it started to really bother me. I mean, I work hard at creating these recipes and I work even harder on taking good pictures and then spending valuable time editing them. It’s only fair that my name is glued to them permanently. So now I am going to literally plaster my name all over them..although I’m still working on how it looks. What do you think? Personally, I’m not really a big fan of watermarks. Although sometimes they add an air of professionalism, mostly they can take away from an otherwsie beautiful food shot. I hope you won’t mind too much! As for the recipes, I will just have to continue scouring the internet for people stealing recipes without accreditation.
As for this recipe, I hope you love it! I am a huge seafood fan, as you may have noticed. I especially love when I can dip it. Prawn cocktails, popcorn shrimp, fish and chips, sushi, tuna steaks, etc. are all dippable! Sadly, the crab in this recipe is canned, but if you have access to fresh, I would take that any day. Although Dungeness crab (the main staple here) is available all year round, the peak is from May to October, and it’s not usually so budget friendly. In summer, when we can walk the harbour piers ourselves and buy the crab fresh off the back of a boat, then I will make these again. Always use what’s seasonal as it usually tastes a lot better than when it’s been harvested out of season. Canned is not comparable to fresh, but in a pinch (and in a recipe like this) it’s hard to tell the difference.
My husband complained that these weren’t “firm” enough for him. If that is an issue for you, reduce the mayo and increase the bread crumbs until you achieve a consistency more to your liking.
Crab & Shrimp Cakes with Lemon Aioli
120g Crab meat (preferably leg meat)
150g shrimp
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp thyme (dried or 1 tsp fresh)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 egg
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
3/4 cup bread crumbs (panko works great)
1. Mix all ingredients in small bowl.
2. To prepare: Heat sauté pan to med/high and add a small amount of butter (1/2 Tbsp). Form cakes and set in hot pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes fer side or until golden brown and cooked through.
3. Serve with Lemon Aioli (Recipe follows).
Lemon Aioli
1/2- 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
zest from half a lemon
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1. Mix all ingredients in small bowl and allow to sit in refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.
So here we are again. Another less than elaborate meal, or should I say “side dish”, because really, this would not be a very filling meal. I am in that lazy, tired, sleep 10 hours a day, go to bed at 8pm every night stage of being “in the family way” as my dear husband puts it. As I said before, the less time spent making meals, means I have more time for what I really need to do, like spending valuable play time with the first babe, or surfing the ‘net for the best deals on a new stroller….oops, did I say that? What I meant was, surfing the internet for valuable information on…….ah, forget it.
I am getting ready to bake my Christmas goodies, and by getting ready I mean buying the boxes and the first three ingredients. Making up the recipes and actually baking them? Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet. I have some really good ideas people, but less than stellar energy levels needed to execute such feats of kitchen fortitude. Fear not though, I can feel some inspiration as I’m typing. Shortbread is pretty easy, I think I’ll tackle that one first!
On a completely different note, I am about to go deep into some self promotion here. Just a warning. One of my favourite “Food Porn” sites, Refrigerator Soup, loves me so much, they have me featured on their “20 Questions with Your Favorite Food Bloggers” section of their website. So if you don’t know enough about me already, please feel free to learn even more amazing facts on their feature page.
Roasted Winter Vegetables
1 small onion
1 large parsnip, peeled
3 small purple top turnips, peeled
1 small broccoli crown
1/2 head cauliflower
1 Tbsp fresh herbs, minced (I used oregano and thyme, because that is what is still alive outside)
1/4 cup butter
1 clove garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1. In a small saucepan, melt butter and add herbs and garlic. Simmer until all is melted and fragrant. Set aside.
2. Cube veggies into chunks about 3/4″ x 3/4″. Toss in large bowl with melted butter/herb mix, coating as evenly as possible, season with salt and pepper.
3. Fill a shallow glass baking dish (9 x 13 works good here) evenly and roast at 375°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Toss every 20 minutes or so, to evenly roast.
4. Serve along side delicious winter meals, such as roasted fish, slow cooked pork roasts, game meats, etc.
Now that I’m “with child”, I am finding that I want to spend less time in the kitchen. I want to enjoy every minute I can with my son right now, while it’s still just the three of us. Soon he’ll be sharing every moment with a little, crying, squirming stranger. Although he shows lots of curiosity towards babies, I doubt it will be the same when the baby is taking Mommy away. Also, it’s winter, and to me, that means stew. I love a good hearty, body warming bowl of filling stew. Full of complex flavours and so thick it needs to be chewed, this is the perfect winter warm up.
These days, around here anyway, the ground is covered in a thick layer of frost every morning. So thick, it almost looks like it snowed, but no such luck yet. I can only hope for that lifelong yearning of a “white” Christmas. The house is full of decorations, our brand new tree was chopped down only yesterday and the house smells of Grand Fir. I love it. When I come downstairs to go to the bathroom every two hours at night, I smell all my childhood Christmases. It’s fantastic, and I can only hope that this brings as much joy as years gone by. I have to say though, there’s no better present than finding out you are expecting the unexpected. This new baby brings with it so much joy, and I can’t wait to share it all with you.
Look forward to the next weeks, as I prepare my annual Christmas gifts. Baking! Not just cookies, but all sorts of goodies for everyone on your list.
Lamb Stew
2 lb lamb roast (shoulder)
1 Tbsp canola oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed (I like Yukon Gold, personally)
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into half rounds
2 stalks celery, sliced
900mL low sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
fresh thyme and rosemary to taste
salt & pepper to taste
10oz dark beer (I used a honey ale)
1/2 cup barley
1. Trim lamb roast of excess fat and cut into cubes about 1″ x 1″.
2. In a deep sided saucepan, sear lamb on medium/high heat for 6-8 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Remove to stockpot, reserving liquid. Meat will still be pinkish in colour.
3. In same saucepan on medium heat, sauté garlic, onion, celery, carrots and potatoes until softened.
4. Add vegetables to stock pot with meat.
5. Add in minced herbs and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add in beer, simmer for another 5 minutes, add stock, bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer.
7. Simmer for at least 2 hours.
8. Add barley in during last 45 minutes.
9. Serve with my Garlic & Herb Beer Bread.
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