1/3 c Popcorn kernels
3 tb Cooking oil
3 tb Butter; (unsalted or salted)
1 pn Salt
This recipe works in 3's and 1/3rds so it's easy to remember.
Add 3 tbsp cooking oil to a saucepan with a lid. Then place 3
individual popcorn kernels in the oil.
Heat the saucepan over med-high heat until one of the three kernels
pops, then immediately remove the saucepan from heat.
Add the remaining kernels to the pan and toss in the oil to coat
everything evenly. DO NOT RETURN TO HEAT.
Wait for 30 seconds for the oil in the pan to bring the kernels
evenly up to a temperature just shy of popping. This avoids problems
with unpopped kernels and burnt kernels that so often plague popcorn
efforts.
Return the pan to the heat. Make sure the lid is on properly to avoid
a popcorn mess.
Once the popcorn begins popping in earnest, give it the occasional
shake to drop any unpopped kernels to the bottom of the pan. Continue
this until you can make a slow count to 10 without any popping.
Remove from heat and dump the popped corn into a big bowl.
Add the 3 tbsps of butter to the pan. There will be small popcorn
remnants still in it and that is fine. Don't let the pan cool down
first. You want to swirl the butter around to gather up the popcorn
bits and melt. If needed, place the pan briefly back on the burner
until the butter is fully melted.
Toss in a generous pinch of salt into the butter, swirl it around,
then dump it all over the popcorn in the bowl.
