Happy National Popcorn Day! {Recipe: Lemon Thyme Popcorn}

Our entire family loves, loves, loves popcorn! So it is a must that we make a post about popcorn on National Popcorn Day. We like popcorn prepared just about any way you can. This is our most recent favorite: Lemon Thyme Popcorn.

Lemon Thyme Popcorn

This is a recipe adapted from a recipe found on FoodandWine.com. While their recipe is very good, we found that it had a bit too much lemon juice. 

1/2 cup popcorn kernels
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Use your favorite method for preparing popcorn. I like air popped best. Here is another method I use: start with a heavy bottomed stockpot with lid, pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil and swirl to cover the bottom of the pot, pour the popcorn to cover the bottom, then cover. Cook the popcorn over medium-medium high heat, depending on how hot your stove gets. Once the popcorn starts to pop, shake the covered stockpot over the heat until the popcorn kernels slow down to popping one every second or two. This method is a little tricky and the popcorn can burn easily, so be careful! Pour the popcorn from the stockpot immediately into a large bowl. It can burn if left in the hot stockpot. Set aside the bowl of popcorn. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and thyme. Give it a good stir, remove from heat and pour 1/2 of the butter mixture over the popcorn, give it a good stir, then pour in the rest. Sprinkle the salt over the popcorn, then toss. Finish the popcorn with a few grinds of fresh pepper. 

Happy National Popcorn Day, enjoy!