Spicy Kettle Corn Recipes

Steps:

• Have a hot pad or kitchen towel and a paper grocery bag or large baking sheet handy. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pan over medium heat. Place a couple of kernels of popcorn in the pan. When the kernels pop, proceed to the next step.
• Once the oil is hot enough, add the butter and stir quickly into the oil to prevent burning. Immediately add the popcorn and stir (the butter may not be completely melted). Add the sugar right away and stir again. Cover the pan, and start shaking it gently back and forth on the burner, using a hot pad or kitchen towel to protect your hands. Keep shaking as the popcorn pops.
• Once you start hearing 1 or 2 seconds of quiet between the pops, turn the heat off immediately. This means the popcorn is mostly popped. (Be careful not to overcook, as the popcorn can easily burn.) Pour the popcorn into the paper bag or onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. Allow to cool a few minutes before placing in a bowl. (Careful, the hot sugar makes the popcorn extremely hot!)

Steps:

• Mix 1/2 teaspoon each paprika and salt, 1/4 teaspoon each ground coriander and white pepper and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper in a bowl. Make a bag of microwave popcorn. While it pops, cook 5 tablespoons sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it melts and turns light brown. Remove from the heat; stir in 1 tablespoon butter. Pour the caramel over the popcorn in a bowl, sprinkle with the spice mix and toss. Spread out on a baking sheet to cool.

Steps:

• Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add oil and 3 popcorn kernels; cover. Once they pop, add remaining popcorn kernels; cover, and shake pot. Cook until a few more kernels start to pop.
• Add confectioners' sugar, and cook, covered, shaking pot, until kernels stop popping, about 2 minutes. Add maple sugar, and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 seconds, then stir to coat. Transfer to a bowl. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat.

Steps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the sugar and popcorn. Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.

Steps:

• Preheat grill if using. Place a large cast iron skillet on grill with vegetable oil in it. Heat until almost smoking. Pour in remaining ingredients and cover skillet. Shake skillet gently while wearing an oven mitt, constantly while corn pops. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Don't let it go too long in between pops or the sugar and butter will burn. It's better to have some "old maids" than burnt popcorn.

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oil in the bottom of a heavy 4 qt pan over medium heat until warm, about 1 minute. Add popcorn in a single layer; sprinkle with sugar. Cover pan.
• 2. Let kernels cook, shaking occasionally to prevent burning. When popping slows to 3-5 seconds between pops, remove pan from burner and pour into bowl. Sprinkle the chili powder/salt mixture onto the popcorn, shaking popcorn to evenly distribute the salt/chili powder mixture. Serve immediately.
• 3. I don't actually measure my ingredients for doing this. The measurements are an estimation only. I usually just mix up some salt and chili powder and keep it in a lidded bowl and "eyeball" the oil and sugar. The popcorn measurement is the only thing that is an exact amount because it makes the amount of popcorn I want when I do this.

Steps:

• 1. Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Pour popcorn into a large bowl allowing plenty of room for tossing popcorn with sugar and spice mix.
• 2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add sugar and water, bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in ground cayenne pepper.
• 3. Remove from heat, mixture will be very hot. Pour half of mixture over popcorn and carefully toss with wooden spoons. Add remaining sugar and spice mixture and combine.