Over the holiday break, I bought an entire bag of popcorn so I could get the single kernel that this fried chicken recipe calls for. I didn't give the purchase much thought - it was just a big bag of plain popcorn for $1.
The other night, my husband and I were watching TV when we decided it might be nice to have a snack. I remembered the popcorn and went into autopilot mode to make a batch on top of the stove the way we always did when I was growing up.
I put a little grape seed oil (yes, the oil I use has gotten fancier) in the bottom of my biggest saucepan, poured in a half cup of popcorn kernels, put on the lid and turned the burner to "high" until I could hear sizzling. Within a few minutes I had a nice batch of popcorn. I melted a little butter in the hot pan, poured it over the bowl of corn and sprinkled on some salt.
Throughout the process, my husband hung around and kept asking lots of questions. It turned out that his family didn't make popcorn that way. In the pre-microwave days, they always bought Jiffy Pop, which my family considered overpriced and gimmicky.
We always used a battered, copper-bottomed skillet for our popcorn. It probably held about the same amount as the pan I used the other night, but I don't recall that we ever measured the popcorn we put in it.
I've never been much of a fan of microwave popcorn. I think it's too greasy and overly flavored. Now that I've been reminded of how good (and cheap!) popcorn can be when it's made the old-fashioned way, I may never go back.
also you can make your own microwave popcorn with just a paper lunch bag...u could even use you grape seed oil. plus you can reuse the bag over and over....
Posted by: mojavi at Simple Things | January 07, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Hooray for real popcorn!
This is so funny - I totally just did a vlog about popping popcorn on the stove:
http://tinyurl.com/75v47q
Posted by: lizriz | January 07, 2009 at 04:11 PM
I have been starving for popcorn and fried chicken since I read this last night. I have consumed many more calories than a serving of either would provide in an attempt to distract my stomach, but nothing seems to be working. Temptress!
Posted by: Joolie | January 07, 2009 at 08:46 PM
Oh my gosh, you just brought back 18 years worth of childhood memories. My grandmother used to make popcorn this way. She had the gas stove and the copper-bottomed pot. Oil was measured like a shot of Jack Daniels. The amount of popcorn was measured with a dixie cup. As soon as the sizzling started, she would shake the pan every 20 seconds or so until it got popping. When the popcorn was just starting to get going, she would pull the lid open just enough to let kernals come flying out and my brothers and I would dive after those first few that hit the counter - (occaisionally ending in a fist fight in which nobody got popcorn.) This was also my first introduction to garlic as she would top her's off with said melted butter (and LOTS of it) and seemingly a half bottle of garlic salt. I can damn near smell it right now! Great post!
Posted by: Dorothy's Husband | January 08, 2009 at 10:10 AM
I use a saucepan and plain ol' veggie oil, but that's how I make it, too.
YUM!
Posted by: Faith | January 08, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I have a microwave popcorn popper, so I make very cheap (and non-greasy) popcorn. Then I add some butter when it's done, so it's greasy after all.
Posted by: Donna W | January 08, 2009 at 04:57 PM
We make our popcorn like this every time (though we use canola oil) and add pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and a little salt (no butter when it's popped in oil). YUM.
Posted by: MLE | January 14, 2009 at 04:52 PM