Olivia Pope has a lot things about her life "handled" (or, she did until things went CRAZY a couple seasons ago), but her diet was never one of those things. For someone so in command of insane situations, we pretty much only ever see her eating popcorn with red wine out of her signature Crate & Barrel wine glasses. Even though she's an established woman with more than enough means to at least get delivery, she makes the sad choice to eat several servings of popcorn on her own. But at least she has it together enough to always put it in a chic glass bowl. That way you know this questionable nutritional choice is deliberate.
To save Olivia from herself, I took the liberty to dress up her favorite entree four different ways—snack, appetizer, entree and dessert. That way, if she's going to eat popcorn for every meal, at least the flavors represent that: Chicago-style caramel and cheddar, buffalo butter, pizza and churro.
popping the popcorn
I made the plain popcorn by popping kernels on the stove. I use about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to every 2-3 tablespoons of kernels. Canola oil and grapeseed oil also work. Olive oil won't cook at such high heat. It's not an exact science, and if you prefer popping plain popcorn in microwave bags or another way, it's up to you! You'll just have the most success if it's 100% plain popcorn, no salt or butter at all.
To make all 5 types of popcorn, I popped 1 cup of kernels, and it yielded about 4-5 cups of popped popcorn for each type. 1/3-1/4 cup kernels will make about 5 cups of popcorn (the serving for these recipes).
appetizer
Buffalo Butter Popcorn
makes about 5 cups
- 4 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. Frank's hot sauce (or another type you prefer)
- 3 tbsp. Frank's buffalo hot sauce (or another type of buffalo sauce you prefer)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
Melt butter. Mix hot sauce and buffalo sauce with butter. Pour mixture over popcorn and stir to evenly distribute. Add salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Stir again to season evenly.
You can have fun with this! Add parmesan or ranch dressing mix or any other buffalo complementary flavor.
Just be careful to keep the butter/hot sauce proportional to the amount of popcorn otherwise it will get gross and soggy.
Recipe by me!
entree
Pizza Popcorn
makes about 5 cups
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 1 clove garlic, smashed
- 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
- 3/4 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
Puree the butter, tomatoes and garlic in a food processor until it forms a smooth paste. Again, my lack of food processor was inconvenient, but this time around the immersion blender worked in its place. Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat and add the butter mixture. Heat the butter until melted and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Keep warm.
Pour the butter mixture to the popcorn. While still warm, add the flavored butter, cheese, oregano and salt. Toss to coat and serve.
recipe from Food Network via Giada De Laurentiis.
dessert
Churro Popcorn
makes about 5 cups
- 3/4 cup cinnamon chips (these can be found in the chocolate chip section, but I couldn't find them so I made my own according to this recipe. It made a little more than the 3/4 cup, and it was super easy!)
- 3 1/2 tbsp. butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt.
In a small bowl, stir the powdered sugar, sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add cinnamon chips to melt and stir to combine.
Pour the cinnamon chips mixture over the popcorn and quickly fold to coat the popcorn, but don't break the kernels. Add the powdered sugar mixture and fold again to coat popcorn. Serve immediately.
recipe from Oh Sweet Basil.
snack
Chicago-Style Cheddar and Caramel Popcorn
makes about 10 cups
caramel
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/8 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. baking soda
Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
Place the butter, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly (with a rubber spatula if possible) until the sugar is melted. Boil for 3-4 minutes while stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan continuously.
Remove pan from heat and immediately stir in vanilla, salt and baking soda. The sugar mixture will bubble and froth. Continue to stir until it forms a thick, glossy sauce. Slowly pour the sauce over the popcorn while stirring the popcorn and continue to stir until evenly coated. Pour the popcorn onto a parchment or wax paper-lined baking sheet and break up any clumps. Let cool completely.
Some notes:
My rubber spatula MELTED into the caramel sauce, so I had to re-do. Make sure yours can handle high heat, or use a wooden spoon instead. I have one with a flatter edge and it worked just fine.
3-4 minutes might be slightly too long to stir the caramel for some stoves. As soon as you see the color of the mixture start to turn a little darker, remove from heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients, otherwise it will burn.
cheddar
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese powder (I also couldn't find this, so I used a packet of the powder in a box of Annie's mac and cheese I had in my cupboard)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.
Stir together the cheese powder and salt in a medium bowl. Melt butter and drizzle it over the popcorn and stir or toss to coat. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat evenly.
Once the caramel is cooled and hardened, combine it with the cheddar popcorn.
recipe from The Kitchn.
[cooked while watching Victoria]
Thinking about how to make her favorite food taste better. Image: Previously.tv.