Buffalo Hot Wing Popcorn - Recipe Non Wing

The last time I was home with my parents, batches of popcorn were being made on various nights with their air popper that they have had at least since the 80's when I was a kid. Other than the movies (where for me, popcorn is basically mandatory), this is the only 'fresh' popped popcorn I've had in a long while.


But after being home, I was ruined on the microwave stuff for good. Fortunately, we picked up a little air popper on sale the other day. I was so excited. For different days it was simple margarine and salt. Then I broke out the dill seasoning. But then, I was craving something spicy, something familiar. It was only a matter of time until I made:



Popcorn is relatively healthy. What can we do to stop that? We can 'Buffaloize' it. No deep frying, but the flavour of hot wings is there. I mean margarine/butter & Frank's - I just don't add vinegar. BAM there you go.

I'm using an air popper, but you can do this with pot popped too. I suppose, if you have to, you could use microwaved popcorn, but most times it's already 'flavoured'. And Jiffy Pop . . . that's a whole other story.






INGREDIENTS:

• Popcorn


• Margarine (can use butter) - about a shot glass worth


• Frank's Red Hot (or other hot sauce) - about 6-7 good shakes of the bottle


• Cayenne pepper - hefty pinch


• Salt - small pinch

Instructions:

3 main things to do and in less than 10 mins you have a spicy and exciting snack:

MAKE THE POPCORN

I cheaped out on the popcorn brand. It sucks on its own (very tough & rubbery), but adding liquid will help. Don't you cheap out.

MAKE THE BUFFALO HOT WING SAUCE

I used margarine. Butter is better. I don't have butter. If you have butter, use it.

As for the hot sauce, I don't add very much because I find it 'weighs' down the popcorn. It can really saturate and make it soggy real quick.

SEASON THE POPCORN

COAT THE POPCORN

This part is fun. Make sure you use a big bowl so when you toss, you don't spill popcorn. If you have a lid, shake it up. I'm using my hand to stir. Stir quickly before sauce soggs up only a few popped kernels.

There are always kernels left. This isn't necessarily because of the machine, but many defective kernels. Do not return them to the popper (especially if drenched in sauce as above).

I've transferred the popcorn to a new bowl, partly for presentation, but also because in the transfer I can weed out those errant kernels that refused to pop. This creates more dishes, which sucks. The advantage to not doing this is the first bowl is well coated in sauce and great for scraping up the last kernels. Although you can still do this with 2 bowls. You know what, just do what you want and enjoy it.

I was in hot wing heaven after just a few hand twists. Salty, savoury, spicy. Crunchy popcorn that nipped my tongue from the cayenne & Frank's. Touch, taste, smell, and, wait, what sense is euphoria? I just wished I had a good movie to watch.

What Would I Do Differently Next Time? OOooh, I think I would have had more margarine. And I would make that butter if I had it on hand. There was enough cayenne, but I might add a smidgen more Frank's next time too. Adjust based on your tolerance of heat. Some garlic powder might add another dimension of flavour too. And don't think I'm not planning on doing a dill/hot wing popcorn combo in the future too.

The next time you want a fun snack and it's not wing night, try these. Crunch/Spice/Fun - they are a great wing alternative.