Published: September 03, 2006 03:22 pm      

Not your average popcorn

There are those who buy cookbooks as much to read them as cook from them. Even noncooks may spend hours watching food shows on television, or devouring chef’s memoirs and “foodie” mysteries as if they were, well ... popcorn.

The newly published “Eater’s Digest” by Lorraine Bodger (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2006) is, as the author boasts in the introduction, “really great popcorn.”

Aptly subtitled “400 Delectable Readings About Food and Drink,” this book would happily grace a bedside or coffee table. Flip to page 236, for example, and you will learn that on a six-night transatlantic crossing, passengers on the Queen Mary 2 will lay waste to 116 pounds of caviar, 894 pounds of lobster and 66,251 eggs. Pages 30 and 31 offer 15 interesting and little-known (to me, at least) food Web sites, including one from the Sheboygan, Wis., library. Who knew? Page 10 tells you how sumo wrestlers get fat (hint: they eat a lot). Page 50 describes the “Grease Trucks” at Rutgers University, which serve up such culinary horrors as the “Fat Cat” sandwich: two cheeseburgers, mozzarella sticks, French fries, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. (Calling all sumo wrestlers!) My personal favorite is the essay “It’s Always Something,” in which Bodger details the trials of planning a dinner party for her family, which includes a mother who is lactose intolerant and can eat no grains except rice, a father who is diabetic and also rejects hot spices, a brother who is violently allergic to garlic and won’t eat pasta (diet), a sister-in-law who is a vegetarian and also dieting (no pasta) and a niece who will eat no shellfish, dairy products or anything “weird.” The menu Bodger devises (mild fresh salsa and corn chips, poached salmon, rice with toasted pine nuts, baked squash, cucumber salad and poached pears) is a triumph.

To celebrate “Eater’s Digest,” it seemed appropriate to feature nonliterary (i.e. actual) popcorn. Unfortunately, the book lacks recipes, but I did find some that use popcorn in one of Bodger’s 11 previously published cookbooks, “The Christmas Kitchen” (Doubleday, 1989). The other recipes here come from the Popcorn Board (www.popcorn.org).

NOTES ON POPPING CORN: To make stovetop popcorn, measure out 1/3 cup kernels and set aside. Set a 3- to 4-quart pan over medium-high heat and coat the bottom with about 2 tablespoons canola or other vegetable oil. Heat over medium-high heat. When you think the oil is really hot (but not smoking), add a few kernels; if they pop, add the rest. (If they don’t, wait a bit.) Cover and shake the pan, and continue shaking until the popping slows. Remove from heat and let sit a minute or so; the kernels will continue popping.

If you want to make popcorn in the microwave and don’t want to use those expensive (often high-fat) microwave packets, buy a microwave popper. I swear by the Presto brand Power Pop (www.gopresto.com), which can be used for air-popping or for oil-popping. It costs under $20 and is dishwasher-safe.

When it comes to the ratio of unpopped kernels to popped corn, the sources I consulted diverged widely (1/3 cup kernels equals 4 cups popcorn versus 1/3 cup kernels equals 8 cups popcorn). My own experience is that 1/3 cup of unpopped kernels yields about 10 cups of air-popped corn.



TRIO OF SEASONED POPCORN

For the popcorn:

8 cups just-popped (warm) popcorn (from about 1/4 cup unpopped kernels)

3 tablespoons butter



For wasabi popcorn:

2 teaspoons prepared wasabi (see note)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)

For Bombay (curried) popcorn:

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup toasted coconut, golden raisins or sliced almonds (optional)

For Cajun popcorn:

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

salt to taste

Note: Wasabi is a pungent horseradish, available in paste or powdered form in the Asian section of most supermarkets. If you can only find it powdered, reconstitute it with water, according to the package directions.

Place popcorn in a large bowl. Melt the butter.

For wasabi popcorn: Blend the wasabi with the butter. Drizzle butter over popcorn and stir to distribute. Sprinkle with salt and sugar, if desired, and stir again.

For Bombay popcorn: Blend the curry powder into the melted butter. Drizzle over popcorn and stir to distribute. Sprinkle with salt and sugar and add the coconut, raisins or almonds, if using. Stir gently until blended.

For Cajun popcorn: Blend the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and lemon pepper with the melted butter. Drizzle over the popcorn and stir to distribute. Sprinkle with salt to taste.



Yield: Each recipe yields 8 1-cup servings

Recipe from the Popcorn Board, www.popcorn.org



CARAMEL POPCORN BALLS



10 cups freshly popped popcorn (from about 1/3 cup unpopped kernels)

1 cup chopped, unsalted peanuts

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

butter, softened, for buttering your hands

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Set aside. Also set out a small bowl of cold water and a pastry brush.

Place the popcorn in a large bowl, discarding any unpopped kernels. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts. Set aside.

Place the sugar, syrup, water, vinegar and baking soda in a saucepan set over low heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. As you stir, wash down the sides of the pan with the pastry brush dipped in the cold water. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil without stirring until the thermometer reads 250 F on a candy thermometer (firm-ball stage).

Immediately pour the syrup slowly over the popcorn and peanuts, stirring vigorously so the syrup coats the mixture evenly. Be sure the peanuts are distributed throughout the mixture.

Butter your hands well and, and, to avoid burning them on hot syrup (be careful!), take the coolest popcorn mixture from the top of the bowl and form into a 2-1/2-inch to 3-inch ball. The ball should hold together but should not be compressed too tightly; reshape it when it is a little cooler. Place on the prepared pan to cool completely. Repeat to make a total of about 14 balls, buttering your hands each time. Wrap in plastic or cellophane.



Yield: about 14 balls

Recipe from “The Christmas Kitchen” by Lorraine Bodger (Doubleday, 1989)



POPCORN AND

PRETZEL SNACK MIX



10 cups freshly popped popcorn (from about 1/3 cup unpopped kernels)

5 cups thin pretzel sticks

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled



Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large bowl or pot, mix the popcorn and pretzel sticks. Stir the chili powder and grated cheese into the melted butter and pour over the popcorn mixture. Toss well, spread on cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool and serve. (This is best eaten shortly after making.)

Yield: about 15 cups

Recipe from “The Christmas Kitchen” by Lorraine Bodger (Doubleday, 1989)



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