FOOD / 11

i love going to the movies. partly cause it’s a great escape, but mostly cause they gots popcorn there. if you’re like me, you have some kind of a popcorn ritual. mine involves a kid’s pack: popcorn spilled in a open cardboard container, m & m’s poured over the top, a touch of butter and salt, toss, eat.

the thing is, i like to watch movies at home, and yet when i do that . . . no popcorn. well, my friends, things are about to change. big time!

in all my years of popcorn loving, i’ve never properly popped the corn. i mean i’ve done the microwave thing, the jiffy pop thing and even had a brief fling with an air popper in college (sounds dirty, but i was just on a diet). let me tell you something.  the proper way is easy, and fun, and delicious.
so here we go.

what you’ll need:
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary (in the neighborhood of 5 inches each)
• 1 cup of popcorn (this yields a fair bit of popcorn, so invite friends)
• 100 g dark chocolate (it’s candy bar size) coarsely chopped
• 2 oz unsalted butter
• salt (as much or as little as you want)

what to do:
• pop the olive oil and 5 sprigs of the rosemary into a small saucepan on medium/low heat, then cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.
• once that’s done, remove the rosemary from the oil (tongs help) and place the sprigs on a paper towel to drain.
• in the meantime get a much bigger saucepan ( i dare to call it a pot ) and transfer the oil, then add the popcorn.
• mix the oil and popcorn together with a spatula, then cover, heat on medium, and then we wait.

while you’re waiting:
• on low heat, melt the butter with the remaining sprig of rosemary in a small saucepan (the very same saucepan that you used for the oil).
note:  once it’s melted, remove the rosemary

also:
• take the rosemary from the first batch, and remove all of the now crispy leaves.
coarsely chop’em
• then chop that chocolate while you’re at it.
• by now, your popcorn should be popping.
• about 3 minutes in give the pot a little shake (and whatever you do, don’t open the lid. YIKES).
• you’ll know it’s ready when the popping sound gets muffled and is more sporadic (one every 4ish seconds)

then:
• transfer to a large bowl.
• toss in the chopped rosemary, salt and chocolate.
• pour butter over the top and maybe a bit more salt – that part is totally up to you.

*side note: my husband’s friend tried this and loved it, but said the chocolate should be grated and not chopped. on one hand i agreed (cause i’m pretty darn agreeable) and other the other hand i told him, “absolutely not!” why?  cause if i don’t add chopped chocolate it won’t melt all over the popcorn, get on my hands and create a delicious mess. i like licking chocolate off my fingers, but if you don’t, you know what to do.

{ column + photos by jen gotch, design by bri }