Good evening everyone, Jess here.
What a whirlwind the past 24 hours was! After several Halloween parties and play dates, we ended up back home with some friends and family for some make-your-own-pizzas before and after trick-or-treating. Springdell toppings included canned tomatoes, sausage, broccoli, spinach, onion and the end-of-the-season peppers.
Today I had thawed some Springdell chicken thighs wings and drumsticks and prepped a sauce for the slow cooker.
I started by sautéing a small onion in butter in a saucepan until just tender, then adding a bit of brown sugar (about 1/4 cup) and cider vinegar (about 2 tablespoons) and maintaining the stir.
Once combined, I mixed in about 1/2 cup of ketchup and a cup of my favorite barbecue sauce.
The chicken went into my slow cooker with the sauce drizzled on top. Everything went at 180 degrees (high) for about 6 hours.
Things were fall-off-the-bone tender but the skin always comes out of the slow cooker a little soggy. A quick trip under the broiler crisps things up nicely!
The chicken was served with some sweet potato fries, spaghetti squash and spinach ebelskiver appetizers, and spaghetti squash with garlic parmesan butter.
Though this was all a fabulous feast, I wanted to focus more on the hot topic on the Springdell CSA Facebook page at the moment, and that’s how to enjoy the popcorn! The boys had their heart set on watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin this evening, so we skipped dessert and went straight for the popcorn.
After some difficulty removing the kernels from the cob (thanks to Sarah, who did this while I tended to the boys and the dinner table) I tested a few in my pan heated with coconut oil.
As you may have read, my counterpart Sarah attempted the microwave method yesterday to no avail. An alternative method that some of you are not having success with is the pan method, heating some oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, removing the kernels from the cob, and going to town.
As had happened to a couple of you, I ended up with burnt and not popped kernels. We, like some of you, had wondered about moisture. Are these kernels dried out enough yet?
Sarah’s husband commandeered an ear to experiment. He put half a cob in the microwave with some rice to perhaps absorb some of the excess moisture. You can see here that after microwaving for a few minutes, the bottom of the paper bag was moist.
We had minimal poppage.
The other half of the cob went into the oven, which was still warm from the recent dinner use. It sat to dry out on the rack for a bit.
By this point, it was clear popcorn was not meant to be tonight and we’d be heading back to the drawing board for a bit. I said goodnight to the Bucks, tucked the boys in and began to clean up the kitchen a bit. Then, a wonderful thing happened!
I remembered this corn drying out in the oven and tried to pull about 12 kernels off the end. They came off with ease! The coconut oil was still on the stove so I fired it back up and when it was hot I threw these newly dried kernels in. They ALL POPPED!
I am kicking myself that I did not get a picture before eating my proof. All I have is a picture of these 3 kernels which were the last not-totally-popped pieces that were left when I said to myself whilst munching “oh shoot- did I snap a photo?” I will say it was delicious.
I am now totally convinced it’s a drying out thing with these cobs and kernels. You’ll have to take my word for it until I try to pop the rest. I will most definitely keep you posted!
If you have success with popping from this batch of cobs, please share with us, we’d love to hear about it! If not, please hold on to your cobs until further notice, we’re gonna get through this!