Learn with recipes: corn

Showing posts with label corn. Show all posts

Saturday, March 8, 2014

“Pad Thai” Popcorn – How Five Seconds of Late Night TV Changed the Future of Caramel Corn

Every once in a great while, I get a food wish from someone I admire and respect so much that I just can’t say no. This “Pad Thai” popcorn recipe was their latest request, and as always, I was more than thrilled to make this very influential person’s snack dream come true. Who is this mystery foodie? Me!

I was channel surfing late one night, and caught the very tail end of a show featuring a hot spot in Charleston, SC, called The Gin Joint. The theme was unique bar eats, and the host was talking about something called, “Pad Thai” popcorn. What was that?

I heard those words, and saw maybe five seconds of footage of what looked like caramel corn in a basket, and that was it. Frustrated, but quite excited, I jumped online to find the bar’s website, and hopefully the recipe. Nothing.

There were a few links with people talking about it, and a couple cell pictures, but no actual official recipe to be found. So, I decided to give myself a food wish – figure out how to recreate this extraordinary-sounding snack. I decided to simply fortify a standard caramel corn recipe with peanuts, lime, hot chilies, fish sauce, and cilantro.

Maybe it was beginner’s luck, or the collective consciousness of all the poor souls who’ve tasted that popcorn and desperately wished they could make it at home, but it came out incredibly well. Crispy, crunchy, sweet, spicy, aromatic, and awesome! You know I’m a fan of the hyperbole, but it’s with all sincerity that I say, this may be the greatest caramel popcorn-related snack breakthrough since balls.

By the way, since this was my first attempt, please feel free to adjust the ingredients amounts and report back. I think next time I’ll add a bit more lime and fish sauce, for a little extra kick. I may also explore using tamarind juice and/or palm sugar. Anyway, I hope you give this unbelievably addictive “Pad Thai” popcorn a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 cups of Pad Thai Popcorn:

1/3 to 1/2 cup popping corn kernels (roughly 8 cups prepared popcorn)

1 cup finely chopped dry-roasted, salted peanuts

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

For the caramel sauce:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup corn syrup

2 or 3 tsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp freshly grated lime zest

1 1/2 tbsp Asian fish sauce (fyi, if you dont use fish sauce, youll have to add salt)

1 rounded tablespoon Sambal red chili sauce, or very finely diced fresh hot chilies

rounded 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (not baking powder)
*bake 45 minutes at 250 degrees F., tossing 3 or 4 times during the cooking.

View the complete recipe

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Roasted Corn Heirloom Tomato and Habanero Salsa

This is that most wonderful time of year when there is such an abundance of seasonal Summer vegetables that we have waited all year to enjoy. Sometimes, in fact, there is so much either from an over eager trip to the farm stand or from a bumper crop in our own gardens that we wonder what in the world to do with it. Living in northern Indiana we are surrounded by corn and, while most of the fields are harvested for feed, we still have our share of sweet corn. In fact, in the midst of Summer I always have more sweet corn than I could ever possibly eat alone due to the prepackaged 1/2 dozen or dozen parcels my local farm stand sells. As most who read my blog on even a somewhat consistent basis knows, I love salsa, so I could come up with no better way to incorporate my plentiful produce into a delicious and healthy treat than fresh and fiery salsa.

Roasted Corn, Heirloom Tomato and Habanero Salsa
1ear sweet corn, husk and silk removed
2 large ripe Heirloom tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion
1 habanero pepper
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
small handful fresh cilantro
salt

Preheat your grill to high. Season the tomatoes, corn and habanero pepper with a little canola oil, salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes, corn and hot pepper on the grill and cook until a nice bit a char develops and the vegetables soften slightly. To prepare the habanero, cut it in half and remove the veins and seeds being extra careful not to touch your face after handling. Place the 1/2 of the seeded and vein habanero (you can add more but start slow), tomatoes, raw onion, garlic clove, lime juice, cilantro and salt into a food processor. Pulse until vegetables are well incorporated and evenly chopped. With a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the ear of corn and add it to the salsa. Stir in by hand so as not to break up the kernels with the blade of the food processor. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

SANDRAS GRILLED COLA CHICKEN THIGHS with GRILLED CORN and COLESLAW

A superb barbecue option
that youll be making quite often,
as it is a great "All-American" meal after all...

Servings: (6 = 2 pieces each)
Prep: 5 mins. |
Marinate: 4 hrs. |
Stand: 30 mins. |
Grill: 20 to 25 mins.

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce (I prefer Bulls Eye-Original)
2 tablespoons minced dried onion
1 (12 oz. can) Coke-a-Cola
12 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (I generally remove the skin myself)

METHOD

Add the barbecue sauce, minced onion, and coke-a-cola to a large ziploc bag, and mix to combine. Add chicken thighs to the ziploc bag make sure all chicken pieces are evenly coated with sauce. Seal bag and place in refrigerator for 4 hours to marinate, while turning over occasionally. Take out of refrigerator and let chicken return to room temperature for 30 minutes prior to grilling.

Meanwhile, preheat grill during so you have charcoal off to one side, as you’ll be cooking chicken over indirect heat (where no charcoal is below it). Before placing chicken thighs on grill, oil rack with an oil-soaked folded paper towel using tongs.

Grill the chicken, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes (longer if using chicken breasts, as they are thicker), while turning and basting with sauce after 10 minutes, and then continue grilling, just until juices run clear when centers of the thickest pieces are cut next to the bone (they should read 170 degrees when done). Toss marinade. Remove grilled chicken to serving platter and tent for 5 minutes before serving. - Enjoy!

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Tip: I like to serve this meal with my other recipes of Cajun Grilled Corn and Sandras Coleslaw as shown in the photograph above.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Corn and potato chowder

You will need

2 pounds of red potatoes, cubed into one inch pieces
1 tbsp salt, divided
2 tbsp butter
1 pkg frozen roasted corn, thawed; about 3 cups
I used Trader Joes brand.
You can also substitute regular corn or grilled corn on the cob, kernels removed after roasting.
1 large white onion, finely chopped
3 cups reduced fat (2%) milk, plus 1/2 cup, divided
1/2 cup half and half
2 lemon thyme sprigs
3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon thyme, chopped
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

First, prep all of your ingredients and have them handy. Place the potatoes and 2 tsp of salt in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil and cook until just fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. Place your frozen corn in a saucepan and bring to room temperature

Once the corn is room temperature, puree one cup of roasted corn and 1/2 cup milk. Set aside. When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and set aside, still in the colander.

Melt the butter in a stockpot or deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and the last teaspoon of salt. While they are cooking, use a knife to further rough chop the potatoes in the colander. Once the onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes, add the milk, half and half, potatoes, roasted corn, roasted corn puree, and thyme sprigs. Raise temperature to simmer ingredients.

Simmer ingredients in the pot for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped chives & 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme. Remove thyme sprigs {the leaves will have mostly fallen off so fish out those pesky stems}. Serve hot with bread sticks and/or a salad. I cheated - those bread stick beauties are store bought! They were garlicky and buttery and delicious! And once you dunk those suckers into the chowder, you wont be able to stop. Its THAT GOOD!

glad i found this recipe at dwell on joy