Sweet And Salty Conductor Corn Food

SWEET AND SALTY KETTLE CORN (RACHAEL RAY)

Steps:

• In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
• Add the popcorn.
• When the oil sizzles, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels.
• Cover and shake the pan until the popping slows down, about 3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and toss with the salt.

COLD-DAY CORN CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Drain or spoon off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat in the pot. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables just begin to become tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the flour, thyme and bay leaves. Stir the flour into the vegetables to make a paste and coat them evenly. Cook a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour flavor. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, 15 minutes.
• Uncover the pot and add the potato, half-and-half and all but 1/2 cup of the corn. Simmer, uncovered, until the potato is very tender but not yet falling apart, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the reserved ½ cup corn and cook, stirring, until warmed through, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Discard the bay leaves from the soup. Puree about 1 cup of the soup in a food processor or blender and stir it back into the soup. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the cooked bacon and buttered corn kernels.

SWEET 'N' SALTY POPCORN

Steps:

• Place popcorn in a large bowl. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt butter; whisk in the pudding mix, corn syrup, vanilla and salt until smooth. , Microwave, uncovered, for 45 seconds or until bubbly. Pour over popcorn; toss to coat. Spread in two 15x10x1-in. baking pans coated with cooking spray., Bake at 250° for 25-30 minutes or until crisp, stirring once. Remove popcorn from pans to waxed paper to cool. Break into clusters. Store in airtight containers.

SWEET AND SALTY POPCORN MIX

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Toss the popcorn, rice crackers, peanuts, sesame seeds and wasabi peas in a large bowl.
• Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then cook, stirring, until thick, about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat. Carefully stir in the vanilla and baking soda (the caramel will bubble).
• Pour the hot caramel over the popcorn mixture and stir with a metal spoon. (Don't worry if the caramel is too thick to coat the mix; it will melt in the oven.) Spread on the prepared baking sheets; bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until evenly coated, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool completely. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

KETTLE CORN

Steps:

• Mix the salt and sugar, set aside: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and salt, and stir with your finger to combine. Set aside.
• Heat oil, pop test kernels: Place a medium to large stockpot (at least 5 quarts) with a tight-fitting lid over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil and 3 to 4 kernels of popcorn. Secure the lid.
• Add popcorn and seasonings, stir to coat: Once the test kernels begin to pop, add the rest of the popcorn, along with the sugar and salt mixture. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon to combine (skip this step and you risk the sugar burning).
• Shake the pot: Quickly replace the lid and continue cooking, constantly shaking the pot. At first there won't be any popping, but in less than a minute, the popcorn will begin to pop. Remove from heat when you smell a whiff of caramel, or the popping slows to 1 second between pops.
• Empty kettle corn into bowl, let cool briefly: Moving swiftly, turn the popcorn into a serving bowl and let it cool a few minutes. If there's some melted or burned sugar residue in the pot, add a few cups of water, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar; dump the hot water down the sink, and your pot should be in much better shape.
• Pick out unpopped kernels, then enjoy: Before you dig in, sort through the kettle corn and pick out as many unpopped kernels as you can. A few stragglers often stick to clusters of the popped kernels. Serve warm, or, for maximum crunch and flavor, at room temperature. The kettle corn will keep three to four days in a tightly covered container.

SWEET AND SALTY POTATOES

Steps:

• 1. Peel the shallots, and chop them into pieces roughly 1/2 inch square. Place the pieces into a large non-reactive bowl.
• 2. Wash the pototoes thoroughly, but do not peel. If you are using small potatoes, cut them into quarters, each in a half-moon shape. If you are using larger potatoes, cut them into quarters, then cut those half-moons in half--the aim is to end up with uniform sized potato pieces that are one-half to no more than 3/4 of an inch on any side. Place the potato pieces into the bowl with the shallots.
• 3. Pour the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil over the potatoes and shallots. Stir to mix.
• 4. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stems. Add the leaves to the bowl with the previous ingredients.
• 5. Add the salt and the pepper to the bowl and stir again to mix.
• 6. Pour the contents of the bowl into a heavy 9 inch by 13 inch roasting pan (I like to line mine with aluminum foil), or into any baking dish that will allow the potatoes to be in a single layer.
• 7.Bake at 450 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes. I like my potatoes pretty dark, so that the balsamic vinegar gets really crunchy on the outsides of the potatoes -if you don?t want them quite so dark, either take them out earlier at the 30 minute mark, or set the oven to 375 degrees F and roast for the full time.
• Serve hot or at room temperature. The potatoes can be reheated in the oven (400 degrees F for 10 minutes) or in a wrapping of heavy duty aluminum foil.

SWEET-AND-SALTY PARTY MIX

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Lightly grease two rimmed baking sheets with vegetable oil. In a small saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons vegetable oil with the butter, corn syrup, sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire, salt and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the snack mix, except the hemp seeds. Pour the syrup over the mix and toss with a wooden spoon to evenly coat all the pieces.
• Divide the mix across the two prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle the hemp seeds evenly over the mixture on both baking sheets.
• Bake until the mix is dry, about 1 hour and 15 minutes, tossing well every 15 minutes. The mixture will be dry but still sticky, and will set as it cools.
• Let the mix cool completely before breaking it into pieces to serve. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

SWEET AND SALTY POPCORN

Steps:

• In a large greased roasting pan, combine the popcorn, cereal and peanuts. In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup and butter; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. , Remove from the heat; quickly stir in vanilla and baking soda until mixture is light and foamy. Immediately pour over popcorn mixture; mix well. Bake, uncovered, at 250° for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely.