Frugal Snacking: Popcorn

Blizzard of 2015: Aftermath

Well, the much-heralded "Blizzard of 2015" has come and gone from my area. Instead of the foot of snow we were initially promised, we have a dusting. It did get pretty windy and nasty outside... hence the overturned yard chair. I understand it is much more of an event farther to the north and east. So no snow day for me... I'm was off to the library on foot to tutor, then later to Book Club.

Yesterday, though, I stayed warm indoors all day. I'd already run to the store on Sunday to replenish bread and milk supplies... a time-honored Delaware pre-snow tradition. I also did what some people admit to when they are anticipating being snowed in for even a short while: I stocked up on snack food. Adult beverages are also included in some people's ritual, but not mine... this time, anyway.

One of my favorite snacks is air-popped popcorn. It's healthful, high in fiber, free of additives, and very low in cost compared to chips and other crunchy snacks. I pay $2.99 for a 2-lb. bag of popping corn, about the cost of a big bag of chips. But I get many, many big bowls of popcorn from that 2 pounds. I usually top it with some melted butter and salt. Sometimes I add some Parmesan cheese or very finely grated sharp cheddar.

Caramel Popcorn

Yesterday, though, I was in the mood for something sweet, so I made caramel corn. There are a lot of recipes available on the internet, but I've always made a simple version that uses just brown sugar, butter, water, and salt. Plus, of course, popcorn. Here's the recipe I used yesterday:





Ingredients

• About 2 quarts of air-popped, unsalted popcorn (approximately 1/4 cup kernels, unpopped)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 tsp. salt

Method

1. Pop the corn and place in a heatproof bowl or shallow, buttered pan.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add brown sugar, salt, and water.
3. Cook and stir brown sugar mixture over medium heat until boiling and foamy. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until boiling liquid thickens slightly and begins to "sheet" off the spoon. A thinner syrup will cover the corn better but will be a little soft and sticky. Cooking a bit longer, till the syrup is a little thicker, yields a harder, less sticky caramel.
4. Pour the caramel syrup over the popcorn, stirring constantly, to cover as much of the popcorn as possible. 
5. Cool, stirring occasionally so the popcorn doesn't stick to the bowl or pan

As you can see from the picture, these proportions produce caramel corn that is partly covered and not overly sweet. You can vary the amount of syrup vs. popcorn to make it to make it to your taste. Cooking the syrup longer yields a harder caramel, but don't overcook or it will have a slightly unpleasant, burned taste. There are a lot of recipes on the internet for making a similar popcorn which you then bake in the oven to yield a crunchy caramel corn that is similar to Cracker Jax, but I like my version and besides, don't relish the extra step. You could add peanuts, other kinds of toasted nuts, coconut, diced dried fruit, or about anything that sounds good to you. 

As you can see, this is very fast to make, and is a great treat for yourself or for guests. My grandchildren really like it. And of course it is super frugal. I don't use the corn syrup (Karo) that some recipes call for, mainly because it's not something I normally keep in my cupboards. Keeping it simple also tends to keep it more frugal, I've noticed.

By the way, although I like the flavor and convenience of packaged microwave popcorns, they are very expensive per serving. And when I read that you end up ingesting some of the Teflon chemicals that they use in them, I completely gave them up. I've tried several air poppers, including one that you put in the microwave to use, but my favorite is one I got last year, a Presto. It is inexpensive, has held up well, and doesn't spew popped and unpopped kernels all over my kitchen like my previous popper did.

It was nice to have a little snow day yesterday. Staying in and cooking, knitting, and watching Inspector Morse on Netflix was nice for a day. But I'm not complaining that the big snows didn't quite make it here last night! Plus... no shoveling... yay!