Caramel Popcorn

One of my favorite snacks is popcorn. I love each buttery salty popped kernel.  I love the smell, feel and texture of popcorn. It's one of those foods that just makes you feel like a kid. At least it does for me. There are so many good things associated with popcorn like , Movies, Circuses and Baseball. These nice warm crunchy bites of delight are full of wonderful memories. My favorite flavor combo is sweet and salty. One type of popcorn that satisfies the salt and sweet combo is Caramel Popcorn. It's extra crunchy, sweet and with enough salt to awaken the palate.

Confession, I don't have a candy thermometer so I had to base the readiness of the sugar by sight. You basically looking for thickness and smell. You're looking for the caramel consistency, thick but still fluid an the smell of that slightly burnt sugar. You obviously don't want to burn your sugar but there is a point where the sugar starts to smoke up a bit. All of this happens in a rather rapid pace, so be careful!

This method is very simple and very delicious! I hope you love it and make batches and batches of this fabulous caramel popcorn!


Buen Provecho!

Main Players

Preheat oven 250F. Place popcorn in a large mixing bowl. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Melt together 1 cup packed dark brown sugar and 1 stick of butter.

Combine while stirring often to avoiding sticking and burning.

Bring to boil until mixture becomes a thick sauce, less than 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine. Mixture will foam up.

Pour mixture on popcorn.

Mix until it looks like....

this. Make sure each piece to covered with caramel as possible.

Pour on to lined baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer. Separate any clusters.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crispy.

Cool and Enjoy!

Any leftovers can be stored in a airtight container for 1 week.

Look at that beautiful texture! Crispy, sweet and salty! A yummy treat!!!

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:

1 bag microwave popcorn (any butter flavor)
1 Stick of butter
1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Road Map:

1. Preheat oven 250F.  Microwave popcorn according to instructions. Pour into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Prepare 2 baking sheets. Line with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a medium pot melt the stick of butter and the packed cup of dark brown sugar.  Stir sugar until completely moistened by the butter. Bring mixture to boil, stirring continuously and scraping the bottom of the pot to avoid burning. Allow to boil until the sugar has melted with the butter forming a thick sauce, about 1 minute of less. This will happen quickly so be watchful.  

3.  Remove from heat and add vanilla, baking soda and salt. The caramel will become foamy. Stir to combine. Pour sauce over popcorn in bowl. Mix to combine completely. Pour popcorn into the prepared baking sheets. Arrange in a single layer. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until crispy. Carefully not to burn.

4. Allow to cool and enjoy.  Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Crepes

 Crepes are delicious, light, airy and very versatile. They go great in both savory & sweet dishes. They are great vessels for so many flavors and are notorious for being difficult to make. I don't know about you but I don't have those big gorgeous stones that restaurants use. I wish I could have one but the reality is, it just isn't particular. So what to use instead? A nonstick pan of course!

The trick to getting nice crepes is a well seasoned pan with the right heat. You have to make sure that you lube your pan with butter. You pour your batter in and gently swirl it around. Now this 1st crepe, think of it as your 1st pancake, you're going to throw it out. It will tear on you and stick a bit on the pan. That's okay, it's helping with the seasoning. For me it took 2 broken and sticky crepes for my pan to be ready. Once it was ready, I buttered the pan, removed it from the heat and poured in my batter. I found this helped the cooking process. It helped cook the crepes evenly. You may not have to do this but in case your pan gets too hot, it's a good option.

It takes a couple of rounds for the swirly technique to get comfortable, but once you got it it's so easy.

Finding a recipe for crepes is hard. You want something that is going to be easy and gives you a light crepe. I found one by Alton Brown. He makes his batter in a blender! So easy and they came out so light and tender. I added some salt to his original recipe, just because I think everything needs a little salt. The crepes were just right! They went perfect with savory & sweet! I love them! There will be many a crepe in my future!


Buen Provecho!

Into the blender, 2 eggs

3/4 cup milk & 1/2 cup water

1 cup of flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp of melted butter

Blend for ONLY 10 Seconds

Place in a container & put in the fridge for at least 1 hour up to 48 hours.

Pan on medium high and butter.

Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan and....

Swirl carefully. 

The first crepe didn't hold up so well so we start again.

This time I took pan off heat, poured batter and swirled gently then put it back on the fire.

Once nice and firm I carefully......

Flip and brown other side.

Nice and brown. So pretty!

Repeat until all batter is gone.

Lay crepes on board to cool.

Leftover crepes can be stacked and placed in a freezer plastic bag in the fridge for multiple days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen crepes on a rack before gently peeling apart. 

Lovely delicate crepes! Ready to fill!

Crepes - 10-12 crepes

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

2 large eggs
3/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
Butter for coating pan

Road Map:

1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place batter for 1 hour in the refrigerator. The batter will keep for up to 2 days.

2. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to a board. Lay flat to cool. Continue with the remaining batter until all gone.

3. Leftover crepes can be stacked and placed in a freezer plastic bag in the fridge for multiple days or frozen for up to 2 months.  Thaw frozen crepes on a rack before gently peeling apart. 

A Taste of El Salvador : Semita

El Salvador is the country of my heritage. I am first generation American. It was wonderful growing up and having 2 cultures. I learned the Salvadorean culture from my parents and the American culture from everywhere else. My parents brought me to El Salvador when I was very young and sadly I don't have any memories. I haven't had the opportunity to visit again so the only way for me to experience a little bit of my heritage is through food. When family would come and visit us they would bring us two things, cheese & semita.

Semita is a jam filled or sugar cane filled pastry. The jam traditionally used is pineapple, but you can add any jam filling you want, you can customized to your taste. I didn't have pineapple filling so I used brown sugar and add a couple of spices, cinnamon & cardamon.

Semita comes in 2 forms, alta & pacha. Alta is thick almost a cake like version while the pacha is a flat thin version. I prefer the pacha version. I searched for days to find a good semita recipe. It was not an easy search. I finally found one at salvadorianrecipes.com. Their recipe was the closest that I could get to a true semita. The dough bakes up a bit more crispy than a true semita but it still has the same taste and I actually prefer the crisper crust.

This semita has a crispy top and soft inside and it's filled with sweet gooey goodness that would satisfy any sweet tooth.

Try this delicious Salvadorean treat with a cup of coffee or tea.

Buen Provencho!

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Combine. Dough will be sticky.

Knead dough on a floured surface until dough is smooth and no longer sticky.

Roll out 1/2 of the dough to 8x11. Place dough in parchment lined baking sheet. Trim if necessary.

Add sugar mixture or jam filling to dough.

Roll out other 1/2 of dough and place on top and decorate with leftover dough.

Create long strains and decorate with a criss-cross pattern or any design you like.

Customize your design! Sprinkle sugar on top. Preheat oven to 350.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Semita Salvadorean - adapted from salvadorianrecipes.com

Dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp yeast, rapid acting
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
pinch of Salt

sugar for dusting

My Filling:

1-2 cups brown sugar
1 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp cardamon

Side Note- You can use any jam filling or dulce de panela (a hardened natural unprocessed sugar cane found in most Latin markets).

Road Map:

1. In a bowl add flour, butter, yeast,  sugar, eggs and salt. Mix ingredients with your hands. Dough will be sticky.

2. Place dough on floured surfaced. Knead dough until it is shiny and no longer sticks to your hands and is easy to work with.

3. Put dough into bowl, cover and place in a warm place and let it rest & rise for 2 hours.

4. In the meantime prepare the baking sheet and filling. Grease an 8 x 11 pan or line with parchment. Combine filling ingredients and set aside. 

5.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees for about 15 minutes before baking

6. After 2 hours, divide dough into 2 disk, use a scale to get equal pieces. Roll out 1 disk on a floured surface to fit the pan. Place first dough on pan and trim. Spread brown sugar mixture or your jam choice all over dough.

7. Roll out the other half of dough and place on top of filling. 

8. Decorate with leftover dough. Roll out long, tin string and place over top in a criss cross pattern. Sprinkle with sugar.

9. Bake for 20 -30 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool before serving.

10. Enjoy!