Thursday, January 8, 2009

It's Good to Be an Old Maid...

Seriously, I love a good Ol' Maid!!

My granny used to always get after us..."Stop fighting over the Old Maids...you kids are crazy!!"

I don't know... I just don't know how those crispy little nibblets of popcorn could taste any better on the bottom of the bowl. Know the ones I mean? The ones that have popped slightly and are all crunchy and popcorny. (Is popcorny a word?) Well, they are my favorite. So much so that a few years back I decided I wanted to make them the main snack instead of residuals to the fluffy stuff. Mind you, I make the fluffy stuff, but I do love a good ol' crispy treat. They are loaded with fiber and down home goodness too. Just the thing on a movie night instead of processed microwave stuff. Though I do sometimes indulge in the micro-cooked too.

Have you ever seen so many ol' cuties together?














These are really hard to make...kidding. Actually they are so easy it seems insane to me that more people don't make them! I think if more folks knew the secret, it would be a staple!

So here's the secret, ready? Soak the popcorn first. 6-8 hours. 2 cups covered in water.

Just about an inch over it's head...

Drain it after 6-8 hours and pat dry with a towel.









Put popcorn in a covered popper or pan with a lid.
I use one of these whirlie popper gizmos.










It whirls the popcorn so I don't have to keep moving the pot over the burner to move the popcorn.


I put the kernels in the pot with 1T oil.
Get the pan good and hot.
Cook on Medium high.

They will start to pop something awful!!... Crazy sound too. Like my boys playing "army" chucking hot wheels as hand grenades and hitting the walls. EEK.

But the sound is worth the resulting pot of love...

Season however you want. We have done ranch seasoning, cheese powder, Parmesan and garlic, sea salt and pepper...if you put 2T sugar in the pot at the end of cooking, it will be like kettle corn nibbles. I have even gone so far as to stir in a little melted white chocolate. Ouch. Try them. You can thank me later.

5 comments:

Jeri said...

how cool is this! I always loved those un-popped treasures. It never even occurred to me that you could make them on PURPOSE! Guess what I'll be popping up real soon???? mmmmmmmmm THANKS!

Chef Tess said...

Oh Jeri I knew we where kindred spirits!!

aswesow said...

This works great!
I used to buy popcorn from the street vendors when I was in Pakistan because it was like this.I thought it had something to do with the way they popped it or the varieties they use. I never imagined it'd be so simple to do in my own popper!

Unknown said...

What is the brand of popcorn popper you use? Is it aluminum or sttainless steel? Thanks. Can't wait to try this. Lucy

MsHill said...

I made these tonight and followed your instructions to a T. I was super excited because the hubster and I both fight for the old maids in the bottom of the popcorn. While I do not have the whirly-gig popper thingamajig, I did use a regular pan, and even though we did not end up with a panful of old maids, we did end up with a panful of half-popped, crunchy goodness. Thank you for posting this so many years ago!