Savor Sister Linda with you in your inbox this first Sunday of 2018. As you click this open, I hope you can feel, regardless of wherever you are reading this, the clear sunshine and cool breeze playing with one another here in the Old Pueblo today.
I keep hearing echo’s of an interview with Marie Forleo and Tim Ferris that I heard the latter part of 2017. Actually, the echo was a question. Ferris asks himself often: “What would this look like if this were easy?”
It is a great question for a species like ours that tends to use fine mental capacities to not only create great things, but to overly complicate things as well.
Todays recipe is designed to help you practice the art of Ease, at the very time you are exploring new tastes, because it is so darned easy.
The Art of Ease; Chiltepin Popcorn
Ingredients: The main ingredients are just two: tri colored popcorn (or your choice of popcorn!), and chiltepin. Oil for popping. Easy.
I found Los Chileros popping corn at Native Seeds SEARCH; but use what you like! At first glance, it “pops out” white, like mainstream popcorn. But, look more deeply and you’ll find color in the kernels. Check out the photo above and you’ll clearly see the red, blue and yellow kernels peeking out at you.
The color as well as the aroma makes this popcorn divine.
Add the your favorite oil for popping corn (I use olive oil) and coat the bottom of your pot. Crush three chiltepin to the oil. I used a 4 quart pan – if you are using a smaller or larger vessel you might want to adjust the amount of chile you use.
Add your popcorn to the chiltepin oil, loosely covering the bottom of the pot, and cover the top of the pot, allowing the heat to pop the corn. The chile flavor infusing the popped kernels is not subtle! If you are a fan of chiltepine’s heat, it should make you smile. Every palate is different, so increase or decrease the amount of chiltepin as desired.
NOTE:
- The chiltepin oil will infuse into the air and smell fantastic, enhancing your whole experience. It may also make you cough, so beware when opening the lid.
- Not everyone in a family or group of friends is a chili-fan. In this case pop the popcorn without the chile – and make a topping with chiltepin! The kernels won’t have the heat, but you will get the satisfying flavor in the melted butter/ oil. If you are reducing fats, just sprinkle your popcorn with chiltepin.
- If you are a dedicated lover of chiltepin, double your pleasure by combining the spicy kernels with the spicy topping.
I love real butter, and I combine my spicy topping with 1/2 butter (grass fed) and 1/2 with oilve oil. Make sure you don’t overheat it – the bubble above show that I almost overdid it.
P.S. One side affect of making the Art of Ease Popcorn is that you may have actual Pops of Insight (I couldn’t resist using the pun). Kidding aside, take a second to recollect how many of your own “Ah Ha’s” have arisen once you let go of a problem (maybe that you may have been struggling with for days or weeks). And having forgotten about it, surprise (!), while showering, walking, doing the dishes, it Pops in. And a simple, elegant solution it is, too!. I’ve experienced this as many times as there are popped kernels in the bowl above.
Savor the Southwest: 