Spicy Sesame Oil Popcorn

There's so much you can do with popcorn that doesn't involve a microwave - caramel corn and kettle corn being some of the more common examples. Both are widely available commercially, but like most things, making it at home is infinitely better - I for one like my kettle corn a bit more on the salty side, and making it myself allows me to manipulate the hot, unpopped kernals however I choose.

As long as you have a pot with a small footprint (8 inches across or so) and tall sides, you can make basic popcorn at home. Kernals, salt and vegetable oil are cheap and the whole process is quick. Creativity comes in when you pop your kernals in flavored oils or use flavored salts, much like Josh did last night at 1 AM.

You will need:

Canola oil, enough to barely cover the bottom of your pot
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
Enough popcorn kernals to cover the bottom of the pot in one layer
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic Powder
Ground cumin
Cayenne pepper

Add oil to the pot and heat over medium heat for about a minute before adding popcorn kernals. Immediately after adding kernals, sprinkle in salt and other seasonings to taste, then cover the pot and shake it up. Keep the pot moving over the burner as the popcorn pops to keep it from burning.

Immediately after the kernals have popped, remove to a bowl. Add additional seasonings if needed.

Other oil/seasoning combinations include:

Truffle oil and truffle salt
Garlic oil, salt and parmesan cheese
Vegetable oil, salt and sugar (kettle corn)

Queso Fundido

It doesn't happen often, but tonight I really didn't want to cook. It was the first really cold night (read: cold for Nashville) of the season, this is my busiest time of year at work, and I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible at home.

But when I can't scrape away a little bit of my day to daydream about food, I come home from work and stand in my kitchen uninspired. Nothing sounds good. Then I get cranky and Josh starts calling out the items in our fridge and freezer. Nothing sounds good. I get crankier. Bless that man.

This was actually his suggestion, though it had just happened that it was already on my 30 by 30 list from September (which I still haven't started on, save for this accidental tick off the list, but I have 2 years, right?).

Unfortunately I got a little carried away with the jalapenos, and my lips are still burning as I type this. Next time I'll use a can of green chiles and a different cheese (probably Chihuahua). We are fortunate to live in a melting pot area of Nashville, so I sent Josh to the Latin store up the street for Asadero cheese. He came home with Oaxaca, which was delicious but didn't work well for melting.

If you don't mind doing some chopping on a weeknight, this comes together relatively quickly and is delicious wrapped up in soft flour tortillas; equally so with a fork.

You will need:
3 cups of shredded asadero cheese
1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack
1 can roasted green chiles
1 small onion, cut into rings
1/2 cup of Mexican chorizo

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break up the chorizo and cook it in a skillet until it’s done, about five minutes. Cook onions in sausage grease until translucent and add chiles until just heated through. Lightly grease a medium-sized cast-iron skillet or a casserole dish and add the cheese. Top with the crumbled, cooked chorizo, cooked onions and diced chiles, and cook for 15 minutes or until bubbling.

Spoon onto tortillas. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Homesick Texan.