Day 34 - July 30th

So I have only one thing to post for you tonight, and it's this:

SERIOUSLY THE BEST 5-MINUTE POPCORN
by Duncan

This is my own new secret recipe, and I'm including nutritional info for those of you who are so inclined. This recipe and the nutritional information is for two servings, so feel free to share it with a friend. :)

You will need:

• One small microwave proof receptacle (bowl, jug, cup, whatever you have)
  
• One thin paper bag, like you use for lunches
  
• One large bowl for serving
  
• One clean blade grinder (the kind you might use for coffee beans)
  
• One microwave
  

Your ingredients are:

• 1/4 cup / 50g unpopped popcorn
  
• 1T / 25g unsalted butter
  
• 4t / 20g turbinado/demerara sugar
  
• 1 stick of cinnamon

All you need to do is:

1. Put the butter in the small receptacle. Nuke it for 20-30 seconds until it is melted (the butter, not the bowl)

2. Put the sugar and the cinnamon stick (break it if you need to) in the blade grinder and whirr it to a fine powder. I suppose you can use granulated sugar and cinnamon powder if you want to, or even soft brown sugar, and skip this step. I just found that it doesn't work quite as well.

3. Put the popcorn kernels in the melted butter. Stir them to make sure they're evenly coated.

4. Add the cinnamon sugar powder to the popcorn kernels and stir until they look evenly coated.

5. Pour the popcorn into the paper bag, leaving plenty of room for popping. Fold the top over - you can probably staple it, too if you want, but if you're worried about killing your microwave just make sure you have a sharp fold that will probably stay closed. When you have the thing closed, hold the bottom of the bag in one hand and the fold in the other and give it another quick shake, just to puff out the bag a little and loosen any kernals that have stuck together.

6. Nuke the bag for two minutes. None of that crap about listening until the pops ae 3-4 second apart. Two minutes. I'd rather you had some unpopped kernels than the burnt stink-bag that you get when you over-cook it. If you've gona off-script and added other stuff (like nutmeg and cloves and ginger for Christmas Popcorn) you're going to need a little extra, but seriously, you're on your own.

7. Take the bag out of the microwave and, using a pot-holder or dish towel, grab the bottom of the bag and give it another shake, like you did two minutes ago. Put the bag on the counter and open it slowly - there will be stam in there, and the butter on the bottom of the bag is hot and burny. Pour the popped popcorn into the large bowl and...let it cool for a couple of minutes. This will allow the popcorn to crisp and will save you from burning your mouth with red-hot sugar.

Told you it was easy. And, what's more, it's not horrible for you.



To there you have it. Foolproof perfect cinnamon sugar popcorn.