Nacho Popcorn

Now that summer is “officially” in full swing I wanted to share with you my favorite summer jam for 2011

I absolutely love this guys mashups! This one from last summer was really awesome (better than the one from this summer, in my opinion..). But he also recently released this one too which he made for YouTube. Every year he also does a mashup of the top 25 billboard songs from that year – they are always so good! I was hooked after I heard the 2008 mix and have been addicted to ever since :) PS – these also make good additions to workout playlists!
On a more food related note, I also discovered this video today – I cracked up watching it (it reminded me of this video and these two videos <– caution! these may be slightly offensive, but they are hilarious..). I love the little quinoa shout out – with the correct pronunciation! YES! Its almost as funny as the honey badger video – which I am slightly obsessed with..”honey badger don’t care”

I think I am going to try to convince the hubby that we should pick up a Redbox movie on our way home from dropping a friend off at the airport tonight – I discovered the amazingness of Redbox about a month ago and now I can’t get over how awesome it is! I a notoriously bad at taking back movies - I actually own far too many movies simply due to the fact that forgot to return them and the rental place charged us for it… But for some reason Rebox works for me – not sure why but it does. Perhaps its just the convenience of picking out a movie online and not having to spend an hour browsing up and down aisles?
Speaking of movies, today I bring to you one of our favorite savory popcorn recipes. I have a strong dislike for microwave popcorn – it just doesn’t taste right to me (I think it tastes kind of like chemicals. bleh). Now this could stem from the fact that I worked for a movie theatre for 8 years or that I am just a picky popcorn person (the smell of burnt popcorn is the worlds worst smell!) but probably a combination of both.
I use this bad boy for all of our popcorn needs:

Its just a basic air popper – I got mine from Walmart for about $20. I like to air pop my popcorn because its really easy (pour in the kernels and turn on the popper – 2 min later you have a bowl of fresh popcorn) and it’s a healthier option. Its also easier to spruce it up when it starts out plain :)
Basic buttered popcorn is delicious, but I typically like a little more pizzazz to my popcorn. This nacho popcorn is an easy way to change it up and I always have the ingredients on hand to make it – plus I like to use up the bottom of the bag of chips (you know, all the broken pieces that impossible to dip into salsa). This popcorn is also great for entertaining when you have a big group over for a movie night – popcorn and nachos combined into one easy snack, what's not to like?

A few helpful popcorn notes:

• I find it easiest to get the large brown (unused!) paper bags from my grocery store to shake up my popcorn in (However I would like to get a large muslin bag that I can wash a reuse). These allow enough room to ensure all the corn gets evenly coated. I typically bring re-usable bags to the store with me, so when I am done checking out I just ask the bagger if I can have 1 or 2 of the large paper bags. The almost always say yes (One time a kid told me no so I walked two registers down and asked someone else..). I try to keep them on hand so I have them available when the popcorn mood strikes.
• It takes about 3 tablespoons of dry kernels to equal 1 quart of popped corn – so about 3/4 cup of kernels for this 4 quart recipe
• Be careful not to overfill your popper. Mine has a 1/2 cup capacity so I have to pop two batches if I making 3 quarts of popcorn 

Nacho Popcorn

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

4 quarts of freshly popped corn

1 cup tortilla chips, broken into bite-sized pieces

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

¼ sliced pickled jalapeños, drained (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Put the popcorn and tortilla chips into a large clean paper bag (or washable muslin bag). In a small bowl combine melted butter and taco seasoning. Drizzle the butter mixture over the popcorn, fold over the top of the bag and shake until the popcorn is evenly coated and moist.

Spread the popcorn mixture evenly over the lined baking sheet and bake until popcorn is dry, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the popcorn mixture to a large baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese and jalapeños (if using) over the popcorn. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

Recipe from Popcorn by Patrick Evans-Hylton