Garlic Popcorn/Kettle Corn

When I was living in Rome my friend Ashley introduced me to home made popcorn. In all honesty, I didn't even know it was possible to make popcorn without some sort of fancy device-I actually never even thought about it. But thanks to Ashley and the technique that she introduced to me, I eat popcorn on a daily basis. And we use olive oil instead of butter! You might be thinking, "Olive oil? That sounds disgusting/weird/wrong." But I assure you, it's so right. So below is my recipe for garlic popcorn (which I prefer to dip in sriracha of course) and also an easy recipe for kettle corn. Enjoy!

Garlic Popcorn

What You Need:

1 LARGE pot, and a lid

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

2 tablespoons oil

lots of salt (to your liking)

3 teaspoons garlic granules

olive oil for drizzling on top

First add the 2 tablespoons of oil to your large pot with the heat on high. Add the popcorn kernels, and the fun begins. Continually swirl the kernels around the pot so that they don't burn. This is very important! (Unless you like burnt popcorn). Once the first couple of kernels start to pop, put the lid on the pot and continue to swirl the kernels around. As more and more kernels start popping, shake the pot so that the popcorn on the bottom of the pan doesn't burn, and I mean SHAKE. Once the popping gets to only a couple pops per second, remove from heat and keep shaking until the kernels stop popping. Remove the lid and add to a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil all over the top, sprinkle with salt and some of the 2 teaspoons of garlic granules. Mix so that the freshly oiled layer of popcorn goes to the bottom of the bowl and repeat the oil, salt, and garlic step. Keep repeating until you think it's seasoned and oiled enough. Voila! I highly recommend dipping your popcorn in a little plate of sriracha, if you like spicy things. It's soooo good.

Kettle Corn

What You Need:

1 Large pot with lid

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

sprinkle of salt

In the pot, on high heat, add oil and popcorn kernels. Continually swirl the pot. Once the first kernel pops add the sugar and swirl like crazy to incorporate the sugar. Keep shaking and swirling the pot like crazy over the heat, if you don't keep it moving the sugar WILL burn. Once the popping slows, remove from heat and continue shaking. Remove lid and add to a bowl. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and mix, and you're done!