Popcorn
Popcorn, that circus twin of peanuts-you pop it twice, first in the pan and then into your mouth is a great outdoor favorite. And the best recipe we know is Vrest Orton's classic: Use bear's paw white rice corn shelled from the cob, heat lard in an old-fashioned black iron kettle (fresh lard made by trying out the suet from a sirloin steak is best), throw in the corn and start stirring, add a teaspoon full of salt and a dab of butter, holding the cover like a shield as things begin to pop, then stop stirring, cover tight and when the popcorn ceases firing give one final stir to make sure every last kernel has gone off. After that, instinct will tell you exactly how to finish the battle.
A campfire method rather than a measured recipe: the whole thing turns on keeping the kernels moving in hot fat until the pan takes over. A few specifics need translating.
- The hinge: butter goes in at the end, not the startMilk solids in butter scorch well below popping temperature and will taste burnt through the whole batch. Add the fat for popping (lard or a neutral oil), then melt butter separately and pour it over once the popping stops.
- Rice corn and "bear's paw"Old seed catalogues divided popcorn into rice types (pointed kernels, irregular flakes) and pearl types (round kernels, rounder flakes). Named heirlooms like this one are not on supermarket shelves; any white rice-type or a standard white popcorn behaves the same way.
- Rendering your own lardBeef suet tried out of a steak yields tallow, not lard, and a single trimmed sirloin will not give you much of it. Buy leaf lard or beef tallow if you want the flavour; refined coconut oil or peanut oil is closer to how most popcorn is popped now.
- QuantitiesNone are given. A half cup of kernels to three tablespoons of fat fills a large kettle and serves three or four; the kernels should sit in a single loose layer, not heaped.
- Heat and the iron kettlePopping wants roughly 400-460F oil, which cast iron holds steadily over coals but also overshoots if left unwatched. Heat the fat until a test kernel spins and pops within a minute, then add the rest.
- SaltA full teaspoon thrown into the fat is heavy by modern taste and much of it sinks to the bottom. Fine salt tossed over the finished corn with the butter distributes better.
- When to stopPull the kettle off the heat when popping slows to a few seconds between pops. The final stir the recipe calls for is best done off the fire; unpopped kernels rarely reward waiting and the popped ones scorch fast.