Maple-Bacon Popcorn. Bacon Lovers, This one is for you!
Since January, I've adopted a vegetarian diet with occasionally including fish. One afternoon I was watching Ayesha Curry on the Food Network with one of her recipes being this delicious Maple-Bacon Popcorn. I immediately thought of my boss at work since she is purely OBSESSED with Bacon. If she could, she would put bacon on everything for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. So I had to recreate this recipe and see what she thought.
This is the best popcorn I've ever tasted. Although I substituted real back for Tempeh Bacon, it was just as delicious as the real thing! The salt from the popcorn and "bacon" mixed with the sweetness from the maple syrup... wow, wow and WOW! Thank you Ayesha Curry for sharing this recipe!
Maple-Bacon Popcorn
Ingredients
Tempeh Bacon
- 1 tablespoon oil neutral tasting (don't use extra virgin olive oil-too strong)
- 1 14 ounce package firm tofu, cut into strips (to resemble bacon)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- fresh ground black pepper
Popcorn
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup popcorn kernels
- 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- Kosher salt
Instructions
Tempeh Bacon
- Heat oil into large skillet.
- Fry "bacon" strips on low heat until crispy on the outside. Place them in the pan in the oil and let them simmer for about 10 minutes, without turning.
- Turn them and simmer another 10 minutes on the other side.
- Mix the soy sauce with the liquid smoke and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.
- Remove skillet from heat.
- Pour the liquid smoke mixture into the pan and move the tofu around so all sides are coated.
- Place back on heat.
- Sprinkle the nutritional yeast, covering all sides then sprinkle freshly ground black pepper on.
- Stir gently until the liquid is gone and the tofu is covered with a crispy coating of yeast
- Let the bacon cool for 10 minutes, then break them up into bits
Popcorn
- Add vegetable oil to a pot ver medium heat.
- Add a few popcorn kernels; when they begin to sizzle, add the remaining kernels and shake to coat in the oil.
- Cover the pot and cook, shaking frequently, until the popping has almost stopped (a pop every second or two), about 5 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and keep covered.
- In the skillet used for the "bacon", melt the butter and maple syrup over medium-low heat, stirring to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet.
- Stir in the crumbled "bacon" and then pour the mixture over the popcorn; toss well to coat all of the kernels. (depending on how big the pot is, for convenience, I poured the maple-bacon mixture and the popcorn into a large brown paper bag and shook everything up to mix together)
- Season with salt and toss again and serve immediately.
Disclaimer
Although HalfPastHungry.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on which products you use, the brand that was purchased, or in other unforeseeable ways. HalfPastHungry.com will not be held liable for any reliance on given nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your physician first.
I'd love to know if you try this recipe! Take a pic, post it on Instagram with the hashtag #HalfPastHungry,
and tag me @halfpasthungry.
*Recipe courtesy of Ayesha Curry
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