Popcorn with Benefits

Sometimes we forget about the simple comfort of freshly popped popcorn. Months will go by, with pretzels, tortilla chips, crackers or nuts, and then suddenly a munchy craving will whisper .... popcorn. Typically it's when we find ourselves out of pretzels, tortilla chips, crackers, nuts and such. But that's really a shame. It's also why we remember popcorn with a wisp of nostalgia. A memory for some of us of a time when tortilla chips were the newest kid on the snack block and only came in one flavor ... corn.

Homemade popcorn also brings so much more to the table. First, the smell as it's cooking, Second, it's actually warm and thereby inherently comforting. And finally, for our overstimulated 21st century palates it's refreshingly plain and simple.

And yet it doesn't have to be... lately we've been experimenting with ways to spice up, tweak, and elevate humble popcorn for bar snacks at parties. One current offering is Sweet Glazed Popcorn with crunchy CornNuts and Pumpkin Seeds. That might be more than you want to take on at home while the movie is downloading, but we've been thinking of some quick and easy options for pumping up the volume on popcorn snacking when you tire of the tried and true.

Most of the flavorings added work best when the seasonings are stirred into a little melted butter before tossing with the popcorn. If you really want to avoid that, try spraying the popped popcorn with a little Butter Flavor PAM before adding the seasonings. It just helps it stick.

Palomas with Chipotle
This is the easiest of all and classically Mexican. Look for a product called Buffalo Chipotle Sauce. It's a tall, tapering thin bottle in the Latino Food Section. Just lightly sprinkle freshly popped popcorn with this Chipotle hot sauce and mix thoroughly. Palomas by the way is Spanish for popcorn.

BBQ Popcorn
Melt some butter and stir in a little Paprika, Hickory Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Chile Powder. Toss freshly popped popcorn with the seasoned butter.

Italian Cheese
Gently warm some Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a saute pan with a crushed garlic clove. When the oil is infused with the garlic flavor, remove the clove and toss freshly popped popcorn with the garlic oil. Immediately toss in a small handful of room temperature finely shredded Parmesan (or Asiago) cheese, freshly ground pepper and some salt if needed. If you want to really impress, or if it's a particularly spectacular Italian film, you could upgrade to Truffle Oil.

Spicy Wasabi
Mix together a little instant Wasabi powder, ground ginger and sea salt. Toss the freshly popped popcorn with a gently drizzle of toasted sesame oil and then sprinkle with the wasabi seasoning. Use a light hand, wasabi is potent stuff. We think this would also be great with some crumbled seasoned Nori seaweed strips added.

Sweet Spices
Making Kettle or Caramel Corn is time consuming and potentially dangerous if you're not used to hot caramelized sugar. But here's an option when your sweet tooth is vying for your attention. Mix together a little sugar (superfine sugar would be great to use here if you have some on hand), some ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Also don't forget to add a few pinches of salt for balance. Again a little melted butter over the popcorn, then a toss with the sweet spices.

This should give you plenty to play with. When you're ready though, here's some other ideas rattling around in our collective heads....
Curry Powder and Toasted Coconut; Lemon Pepper and Dried Dill Weed; Cocoa, Powdered Sugar & Espresso Powder .... We're sure there's more to come

Another Cup of Hot Cocoa Please ...

OK, so something less than wonderful is happening lately. It's the weekly NYC snowstorm.
Really? Another one today? AND another on the horizon for next Wednesday?

We're sure all our California readers are enjoying a smug sunny smile, but have a heart! That's why this week is all about hot cocoa served in a never ending mug. Because one of the truly positive aspects to weekly snowstorms should be cozy afternoons and evenings with a mug of hot cocoa and a great book, stack of magazines or Netflix subscription - pick your own distraction.

So to that end.... following is a recipe for HomeMade Instant Cocoa Mix with several variations. Once you make this, pop it in a air tight container and it will easily last until the first sprouting of the crocus bulbs...

Traditional Hot Cocoa Mix
1 1/2 Cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 Cups Confectioner's Sugar (Powdered Sugar)
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
6 Ounces Semisweet Chocolate (coarsely chopped)
1 2 inch Piece of Whole Vanilla Bean (optional, but recommended)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, fitted with the steel blade. Process until all ingredients are chopped into a smooth powder. Transfer into an air tight container. Store at room temperature for up to 6 months.

Hot Cocoa
8 ounces Milk (Whole, 2% or Skim - your choice)
3 Tablespoons Hot Cocoa Mix

Place milk in a large mug and warm milk in the microwave. (Or warm the milk in a pan on the stove) Add the Cocoa Mix and stir until completely combined. Continue to warm until hot. Garnish with whipped cream or marshmallows if desired.

Note: Occasionally a small amount of Rum, Brandy, Frangelico, etc. has accidentally spilled into the cup of cocoa with no apparent ill effects.

Variations
Sugar Free: Replace the 1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar with 1 3/4 of a 'cup for cup' style sugar replacement. Follow the procedure as printed. (We used bulk Splenda. The Stevia in the Raw Cup for Cup product would also work, among others)

Mocha: Increase the granulated sugar to 1/2 cup and add 1/3 cup of instant coffee to the mix before processing. Then follow the procedure as written.

Mexican Hot Chocolate:Prepare the Traditional Hot Cocoa Mix, adding 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon whole anise seeds and 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne to the mix before processing the ingredients.

Peppermint : Reduce the granulated sugar to 1 Tablespoon and add 2 roughly broken "Starlight" peppermint candies to the mix before processing.

International Flavors

Winter days and nights are perfect for cookbook perusing or catching up on favorite cooking blogs and then trying out fun ideas that catch your eye. Lately we've been all about long braises and hearty vegetarian stews. Moroccan Squash and Chickpea Stew anyone? It was full of huge flavors of Butternut Squash, Saffron, Olives, Preserved Lemon and Garlic. You can find it on one of our favorite blogs smittenkitchen.com. All we changed was to add some sliced dried apricot. Another blog we love is davidlebovitz.com , especially for sweet stuff.

The only thing we love more than trying out other chef's recipes is to come up with some new ones of our own. Sometimes it's just a matter of opening the refrigerator and coming up with the best meal possible with what's on hand. Sometimes it's the happy challenge of a shopping trip to a new ethnic market or neighborhood. But as much as we enjoy the challenge, we've heard that a lot of folks get intimidated at the prospect of approaching the stove without a recipe or cooking without a net as we call it.

To that end, we've made a partial list of flavor "profiles" of many cuisines from near and far. It's a great place to start when putting together an extemporaneous dinner. For example... you've got some chicken breasts, mushrooms, onions & broccoli... and are communing with the spirit of Doctor Zhivago...
Cook off the chicken breast how you wish. Blanch the broccoli, drain and reserve. Bring water to a boil and cook some egg noodles . While noodles are cooking, warm some butter in a skillet to saute the onions and mushrooms, deglaze with a little vodka. Add some sour cream and paprika, toss with cooked noodles and keep warm. Melt a little butter, add saute the blanched broccoli, add some poppy seeds, season and toss. Place noodles on plate, place chicken breast on top and serve with broccoli. Voila, Leningrad Chicken, Romanoff Noodles and Babushka Broccoli.
Well ... you get the idea. Hope this inspires some happy cooking.

France
Anchovy, Artichoke, Asparagus, Bay Leaf, Butter, Caper, Chervil, Cheese, Chive, Cream, Duck, Endive, Eggplant, Foie Gras, Herbes de Provence, Lavender, Marjoram, Mesclun, Mustard, Nutmeg, Nuts, Olives & Olive Oil, Parsley, Pate, Potato, Rabbit, Rosemary, Saffron, Sausage, Shallots, Shellfish, Snails, Sole, Tarragon, Thyme, Trout, Truffle, Zucchini

Italy
Anchovy, Arborio Rice, Artichoke, Basil, Bay Leaf, Beans (Dried), Caper, Cheese, Cinnamon, Clove, Crushed Red Pepper, Eggplant, Fennel, Garlic, Greens, Honey, Lemon, Marjoram, Mint, Mushroom, Nutmeg, Nuts, Orange, Olives & Olive Oil, Pancetta, Parsley, Prosciutto, Oregano, Pasta, Pine Nuts, Polenta, Rosemary, Saffron, Sage, Sausage, Shellfish, Swordfish, Tomato, Truffle, Veal, Vinegar (especially Balsamic)

Spain and Portugal
Almonds, Anchovy, Bay Leaf, Beans (Dried), Chickpeas, Cumin, Fish, Garlic, Ham, Lemon, Olives & Olive Oil, Paprika (Sweet & Smoked), Parsley, Pine Nuts, Pork, Rice, Saffron, Shellfish, Sherry, Thyme, Tomato

Greece
Allspice, Anise, Artichoke, Beans (Dried)Cinnamon, Cloves, Cucumber, Dill, Eggplant, Fennel, Feta, Fruit, Greens, Grilled Fish, Honey, Lamb, Mint, Nutmeg, Octopus, Olives & Olive Oil, Oregano, Phyllo, Pita, Salads, Thyme, Tomato, Yogurt

Levant
Aleppo Pepper, Chickpeas, Chile Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coriander, Crushed Red Pepper, Cucumber, Cumin, Dill, Feta, Fish, Fruit(dried), Ginger, Goat, Honey, Mint, Nuts, Olives & Olive Oil, Oregano, Parsley, Phyllo, Pita, Pomegranate, Sesame, Sumac, Yogurt

Russia
Beets, Cabbage, Caraway, Caviar, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cumin, Dill, Fish (Smoked & Pickled), Fruit, Garlic, Mint, Mushrooms, Nutmeg, Paprika, Poppy Seeds, Potato, Sour Cream, Tarragon, Vodka, Yogurt

Morocco
Almonds, Chile Pepper, Cilantro, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Coriander, Couscous, Cumin, Fish, Fruit (dried), Ginger, Harissa, Lamb, Mint, Orange Flower Water, Paprika, Phyllo, Preserved Lemon, Ras al hanout, Rosewater, Saffron, Stews (Tagines), Sumac, Turmeric

Germany
Allspice, Bay Leaf, Beer, Caraway, Chives, Cinnamon, Clove, Cream, Dill (Leaf and Seed), Chive, Ginger, Horseradish, Juniper Berry, Mace, Mushrooms, Nutmeg, Paprika, Poppy Seeds, Vinegar

Scandinavian
Allspice, Aquavit, Bay Leaf, Cardamon, Cinnamon, Clove, Cucumbers, Dill, Fish (Pickled), Ginger, Juniper Berry, Meatballs, Mushrooms, Mustard, Nutmeg, Potato, Salmon(Gravlax), Sour Cream, Vinegar

Caribbean
Allspice, Bay Leaf, Chile Peppers, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coconut, Curry Powder, Fish, Fruit (Tropical), Garlic, Ginger, Goat, Lime, Molasses, Nutmeg, Plantains, Rum, Shellfish, Sugar (Brown), Tamarind, Thyme

Mexican
Avocado, Beans, Cilantro, Canela (Mexican or True Cinnamon), Chile Pepper, Chile Powder, Chocolate, Corn, Cumin, Epazote, Fish, Lime, Oregano, Peppers, Plantain, Rice, Sausage, Seeds, Shellfish, Tomato, Tortilla

South America (Brazil, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, and others)
Avocado, Cheese (fresh white), Chile Pepper, Chile Pastes, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coconut, Coffee, Corn, Cumin, Garlic, Ginger, Greens, Grilled Meats, Lime, Orange, Oregano, Parsley, Peppers, Plantain, Pork, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Raisins, Rice, Rosemary, Saffron, Sausage

Southeast Asia - (Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam)
Distinctive balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy
Chile Pepper, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Clove, Coconut Milk, Curry Paste, Dried Shrimp, Fish Sauce, Galangal, Ginger, Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime Leaf, Lime, Mint, Shrimp Paste, Peanuts, Rice, Siracha, Soy Sauce, Sugar (Brown), Tamarind, Thai Basil

India
Allspice, Anise, Basmati Rice, Cardamom, Cauliflower, Chile Pepper, Cilantro, Coriander, Cumin, Curry Powder, Curry Leaves, Fenugreek, Ghee, Ginger, Greens, Lamb, Lentils, Mint, Mustard Seed, Mustard Oil, Nutmeg, Onion, Poppy Seeds, Potato, Saffron, Tamarind, Tomato, Turmeric, Yogurt

Chinese
Chile Pepper, Cinnamon, Dried Seafood, Duck, Five Spice Powder, Garlic, Ginger, Hoisin Sauce, Noodles, Nuts, Rice, Scallion, Shellfish, Sesame, Soy Sauce, Star Anise, Szechuan Pepper, Tangerine Peel, Tofu, Vinegar

Japanese
Bonito Flakes, Chile Pepper, Daikon, Dashi, Ginger, Mirin, Miso, Noodles, Pickles, Ponzu, Rice, Sake, Scallion, Seaweed, Sesame, Shellfish, Soy Sauce, Tea, Tofu, Vinegar, Wasabi, Yuzu

Onion Walnut Muffins

Here's something easy, warm and delicious for a snowy winter weekend. Or for a sunny California weekend. It's just that I'm looking out the window at another snow storm here in NYC.

NYC Chef Waldy Malouf used to serve these delicious savory muffins at the now shuttered Hudson River Club. We are happy to credit him for this crazy good recipe and love to serve these warm with first course salads.

It gets us thinking, maybe it's time to develop some more savory muffins... Cheddar, Corn and Bacon anyone? Maybe a Pesto, Pine Nut and Parmesan Muffin would be delicious with some Minestrone. Or... Tomato, Olive and Spinach. We'll get back to you should any of these succeed. Until then, give Chef Malouf's version a try.

Onion Walnut Muffins
1 Large Onion, pureed to make 1 cup
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, Melted and Cooled
2 Large Eggs
6 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray inside of mini muffin tins with non stick spray.
Peel Onions, cut into chunks and puree. Reserve 1 cup. In a large bowl, beat butter, eggs and sugar together with a whisk. Stir in reserved onion puree. Stir in remaining ingredients in the order listed. mix well, but do not over mix.
Divide batter into prepared muffin tins, filling almost completely full.
Bake 6 - 8 minutes until nicely browned.