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la vie en aubergine

Monthly Archives: February 2012

for the love of popcorn

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by lavieenaubergine in food

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Tags

food, popcorn

growing up, if i wasn’t eating movie theatre popcorn, i either used an old school popcorn maker, or the microwave.  sure, there was also that jiffy pop package for the stove, and yet, it never occurred to me that we could make stove top popcorn at home.  mainly this was because my parents either didn’t know about this or were never inclined to make popcorn this way (clearly they weren’t big popcorn fans).  but also, how often would the methods of popcorn making at home come up in casual conversation?  at least for me – apparently never.

fast forward to paris, in a tiny shoebox of an apartment, where one day, my American roommate and i got to talking about snacks we missed from home.  the previous tenant left behind popcorn kernels but because we chose to spend our precious money on a small convection/toaster oven rather than a microwave, i was a bit stumped as to how we could pop these kernels.  luckily for me, my roommate had made stove top popcorn at home in her youth.  my popcorn eating ways have never been the same since.

sure, microwaving kernels in a paper bag (not the stuff with all the chemical flavourings in the prepackaged bags) is a lot healthier (or maybe the old popcorn machines are too) but if you’re after good taste and can restrain yourself to moderate amounts, stove top popcorn is the way to go.  there’s also the whirley pop contraption which should be great, but I don’t have the space for a single-focused item.  besides, a pot and a lid do just fine.

• heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large pot on medium heat (the larger the surface area, the more kernels you can pop at once).
• to test if the oil is hot enough, place 3 kernels in the oil and cover the pot.  a glass cover works best to watch the action, but you can go on sound too.
• as soon as the kernels have popped, add the rest of the kernels to spread in one layer on the bottom of the pot and place cover back on.
• shake slightly so the kernels get more coated in oil
• when the kernels start popping, same as you should for microwave popcorn, listen for when the popping slows to about 4 seconds and take off the heat (if in doubt, take off the heat – nothing worse than burnt popcorn!)
• sometimes i briefly put the lid slightly ajar (directed away from me) to let some steam escape during the popping, but be careful as that popcorn likes to escape!
• sometimes i’ve needed to shake the pot slightly to keep the popping going (you can imagine all the popped popcorn makes things a bit crowded in the pot)
• put popcorn into a bowl
• add seasonings as desired and toss to coat (to go all out, you can do the melted butter and more salt).  i like to drizzle some olive oil, toss through the popcorn and then add some salt, cayenne pepper, maybe some dried herbs, and grate a bit of parmesan cheese and toss again

enjoy while popcorn is hot :)

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coconut – yay or nay?

18 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by lavieenaubergine in food

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

coconut, cookies, food, recipe, shortbread

a few weeks back, my boss bought me and my coworker nanaimo bars, just as a nice treat.  he devoured his, exclaiming how the bottom layer was his favourite and if only they would only just make this one layer.  curious, i nibbled on mine (it had been many many years since my last tasting of a nanaimo bar) and discovered my absolute hatred of that same bottom layer.

the discussion about the love vs hate of coconut ensued.  i pointed out that i had no issues with coconut itself, it was more the texture of the dried, shredded stuff that got to me.  sort of the textural equivalent of nails scratching on a board.

and i can’t recall what led me to smitten kitchen’s recipe for toasted coconut shortbread, but the post was on the same subject of the polarizing nature of coconut.  through reading the comments i learned of others who either directly, or through someone close to them, were all too keenly aware of the dreaded loathing of dessicated/shredded coconut, particularly the texture.  what piqued my interest was how all the coconut ‘haters’ loved these cookies!

so it became a personal challenge to see how i would feel on the matter.  i figured even if i hated them, they wouldn’t go to waste – at a minimum, my coworker would be happy!

verdict?   Continue reading →

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