You Put Your Sriracha In My...

I feel like I'm getting better at bumbling around in the kitchen, making stuff up.

I kept seeing blog posts about popcorn with sriracha on it (like this one) or with honey on it (like this one), and suddenly today I thought - why not both?

So I whacked off a hunk of butter, dipped a spoon of honey, squirted a generous stream of sriracha, and put them all in a pan together until they melted into a swirl of titillating aroma. Poured the stuff onto some air-popped popcorn. Salted liberally. And congratulated myself.

Sriracha Honey Butter Popcorn. Eat it and weep.

Salty. Spicy. Sweet. So freaking delicious that I kept having to tell myself to slow the hell down or I was going to choke myself.

In the spirit of my friend Christian over at Austin Food Journal, who steadfastly refuses to share recipe quantities (even when asked nicely), I'm leaving the measuring up to your tastebuds. Want it sweeter? Add more honey. More zing? More sriracha. With just three ingredients, I know you can handle it.

Pacing yourself while you're eating it...now that's another matter altogether.

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Perfect Popcorn

When the weather is all chilly and grey the way it has been here so much lately, I dream of curling up in front of the fireplace with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn. The fly in the ointment as far as making this happen is that I don't have a fireplace...although while searching for a nice fireplace image to drop in here, I discovered the world of ventless fireplaces. Maybe I will have one at some point soon.

I don't have any good photos of hot chocolate, either, but I fancy a beautiful cup with homemade marshmallows in it. This one looks just about perfect.

So how about the popcorn? I personally favor the air-popped variety - pan popped popcorn is admittedly delicious, but has a stronger flavor, so doesn't lend itself quite as well to interesting toppings, in my opinion. Plus? I'm lazy, and air-popped is so ridiculously easy.

Popcorn kind of fascinates me. I find it ever so interesting that the starchy molecules nestled inside the boring-looking exterior explode into these tasty, crunchy little clouds. Here's a slow motion video of popcorn transforming from seed to snack. Pretty neat.

Individual popcorn kernels are interesting looking, too:




The piece sticking up on the top of this kernel reminds me of Beaker.
No, I am not smoking anything.

Most importantly, though, popcorn tastes good. I love mine with lots of butter, parmesan cheese, and a healthy sprinkling of cayenne.





How do you like your popcorn?

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