Love “Salt and Sweet” Together? I’ve Got The Perfect Recipes For You!!
How lucky am I? I got to spend this morning with the beautiful ladies from KCTV 5’s Better Kansas City! Today, I shared my two recipes for something sweet and salty… my “caramel” popcorn made with real maple syrup and lavender sea salt and my apple and goat cheese Phyllo/Filo cups quiches. Get ready, because they are absolutely delicious!!
Enjoy the delicious taste of caramel while benefiting from all the wonderful and beneficial nutrients that come in maple syrup. They include minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and iron. Plus, this syrup is non refined and contains no fat. Below is a recipe for the most simple version which includes the maple syrup and lavender salt. But I got a little creative (photo I posted above) by adding almonds and pretzels to my popcorn. You can add anything you want! And if you want to get super creative, add a “savory” element with a bit of diced turkey bacon!!
SWEET & SALTY “CARAMEL” POP-CORN
1/4 – 1/2 cup – Grade A Maple Syrup (Doesn’t matter if it’s medium or dark, whatever you like best). The range of syrup depends on if you want a heavily coated popcorn or slightly coated.
1/2 cup of pop corn
2-3 tablespoons of butter
Lavender sea salt ( plain sea salt will work as well)
Pop your popcorn. You can do air popped, bagged, or microwave, although I prefer air popped.
Put the popcorn in a bowl and set aside. In a small sauce pan, bring your maple syrup to a boil. Add the butter and let the combination boil for 2-3 minutes. You can mix the butter and syrup slightly, you don’t have to constantly stir the mixture in the pan, move your spoon through it once or twice and leave it alone. Have your popcorn, baking sheet, and salt on standby and ready to go. While your syrup is hot, you have a small window to work with the popcorn. Once the caramel is ready, pour it over the popcorn and mix (I use a wooden spoon) while the caramel is still hot. Keep mixing until the popcorn is well coated with the caramel, then quickly spread it out on a cookie sheet and begin salting with the Lavender salt.
Once you are happy, give it 5-10 minutes to dry. Once the caramel popcorn is dry, you can place it back in the bowl and serve.
WARNING: No matter how good the popcorn looks, don’t serve it when it’s wet. Your guests will have sticky caramel on their fingers which is difficult and no fun to get off. Additionally, you can add other things to the popcorn. Salted nuts, pretzels, bacon (for a bit of savory), dried cranberries (for a bit of sour), or anything else you like. Just remember to add these items while the caramel is hot and you are mixing it with the popcorn.
These are super easy and can be made for wine tasting parties, breakfast parties, brunch, lunch, dinner… you name it!! They are beautiful to serve and delicious!!
APPLE AND GOAT CHEESE FILO/PHYLLO QUICHES
12-24 Filo/ Phyllo Cups (available in the refrigerated section)
1 Red & Delicious Apple
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Half & Half
1/2 package of Goat Cheese
Nutmeg
Dried blueberries and cranberries
Honey
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the Filo/Phyllo Cups in a lightly greased mini muffin pan. Dice the apple and place a few small pieces in each Phyllo cup. Mix eggs, half & half, a dash of salt, and a dash of nutmeg together in a measuring cup. Carefully pour a little bit of the egg mixture in each cup. Finally, put a generous amount of goat cheese on top of each Filo cup. Place the mini muffin pan with the Filo/Phyllo cups in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Let cool for 2-3 minutes and arrange on a plate. Drizzle with honey and serve.
