A few weeks ago, a patient mentioned how excited he was to get his new teeth because now he could eat popcorn again! 😉 Being an older patient, I asked him if he grew his own popcorn. I thought it was a legitimate question since lots of people around Johnson City still have gardens, but my preceptor said, “Only you would ask them if they grew their own popcorn!”. Eh, whatever…I guess I’m still pretty much a country girl, although I don’t really consider myself to be extremely country and definitely not a redneck – although someone told me I’d make a good redneck doctor – whatever that means, but that’s another story haha. Anyway, that conversation got me in the mood for popcorn, so I hurried home that day and popped myself some popcorn for lunch. It was delicious! And of course it was homegrown popcorn – homegrown popcorn is wayyy better than store-bought. The kernels are slightly smaller and more tender and when you pop it yourself you control the ingredients, but if you don’t grow your own popcorn (which I realize most people don’t) Orville Redenbacher popcorn kernels are a good substitute =). And just FYI, I’m not sure I even consider microwave popcorn actual popcorn…it just has such a weird processed taste. It’s really not that hard to make stove popped popcorn and I promise once you try it, you’ll never go back to that microwave stuff again! Enjoy!
Stove Popped Popcorn
1/2 cup popping corn
3 tbsp canola or butter flavored popcorn oil
salt
1. Place corn and oil in large, heavy-bottomed pan and turn heat to medium. Cover with lid, but leave the lid slightly cracked to allow the steam to escape during popping, so the popcorn stays light and fluffy.
2. Shake the pan to make sure the kernels are heated equally. When popping slows down, remove from heat. Sprinkle with salt. Yield: 8 cups of popcorn.
*adapted from Orville Redenbacher
