Salty and sweet — here’s one heck of a ribs recipe

Ribs are all the rage this month as the Brooklyn Kitchen hosts a class on how to slow-cook a rack on May 21. But you don’t have to wait until then to get cracking. “The New Brooklyn Cookbook” (remember that?) features a recipe courtesy of the General Greene in Fort Greene — a salt-pepper-sugar rub that’s dressed up with a spiced yogurt sauce. We can hear those lips smacking already.

Salt and pepper pork ribs with spiced yogurt sauce

From The General Greene

Serves four

For the rub

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

16 St. Louis–style pork ribs (about 2-1/2 pounds)

For the spiced yogurt sauce

Kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pint Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons ground sumac (available in Middle Eastern markets) plus more for garnish

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Combine the brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Rub the ribs generously with the sugar mixture to completely coat the meat side. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To cook the ribs, place the ribs meat side up on a rimmed baking sheet and pour any liquid that has accumulated over the ribs.

Preheat the oven to 250. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Place an empty deep 9- by 13-inch baking pan on the floor of the oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the pan — enough to fill it three-quarters full.

Place the baking sheet on the oven rack, above the pan of water, and cook the ribs, uncovered, for two-and-a-half hours, or until the meat is very tender. Set the ribs aside until they are just cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, make the yogurt sauce. Sprinkle a cutting board with a pinch of salt. Place the minced garlic on top. (The salt will help to break down the garlic.) Use the flat side of a large knife to form a paste.

Combine the yogurt, sumac, lemon zest, and garlic paste in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Season to taste with salt.

Turn the ribs over so that the meat faces down and cut between the bones to separate the ribs.

To serve, spread a generous spoonful of yogurt sauce in the middle of each of four plates and place four ribs on each plate. Sprinkle with sumac and serve.

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Make Fort Defiance's muffaletta at home

By Meredith Deliso

“If this sandwich were an Olympiad, it would resemble 14-time gold medal-winner Michael Phelps.”

So write Jean Tang and Sarah Reistad-Long in their new cookbook, “The Big New York Sandwich Book,” about Fort Defiance’s much-praised muffaletta. Indeed, St. John Frizell has gained many fans at his Red Hook restaurant for his take on the New Orleans classic — piled high with Emmental cheese, provolone, mortadella, sweet soppressato, and, of course, olive salad.

And now, you can try your hand at recreating the tasty French Quarter staple, courtesy of the recipe below (though allow at least three days to create a proper olive spread).

Muffaletta

Created by St. John Frizell at Fort Defiance

Serves six

Ingredients

For the sandwich

Muffaletta bread loaf, about 1-inches round

9 ounces Emmental cheese, sliced

9 ounces mild provolone cheese, sliced

8 ounces hot coppa, sliced

8 ounces mortadella, sliced

8 ounces sweet soppressata, sliced

For the olive salad

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 carrot, roughly chopped

3 cauliflower stalks, roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 shallot, halved

1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted

1/3 cup green olives, pitted

1 tablespoon chopped pimientos

1 garlic clove

4 parsley sprigs

1 teaspoon capers

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1-1/4 teaspoons canola oil

Directions

For the olive salad

Place the sugar, water, and vinegar in a saucepan to make a brine. Heat to a boil over high heat; then reduce the heat to medium and boil until the sugar is dissolved.

Place the carrot, cauliflower, celery, and shallot into a large, heat-proof container. Pour the brine over the vegetables to cover. Refrigerate for at least three days.

Remove the vegetables from the brine. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pickled vegetables, olives, pimientos, garlic, parsley, and capers. Working in small batches, add the vegetable mixture to a food processor, and pulse until chopped, but not puréed. Toss with the olive and canola oils.

For the sandwich

Slice the bread in half lengthwise. Spread the olive salad on the bottom half. Add the Emmental, provolone, hot coppa, mortadella, and soppressata. Close the sandwich. Slice into six wedges, and serve. Store any leftover olive salad in the refrigerator.

From “The Big New York Sandwich Book” by Sara Reistad-Long and Jean Tang (Running Press, 2011).

Photo by Stefano Giovannini

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A Passover treat that's real sweet

By Meredith Deliso

Making dessert during Passover is a bit of a challenge.

The Jewish religious holiday forbids the consumption of grain-based products — or chametz — so that means no flour, baking powder or baking soda, the staples of dessert recipes.

“It’s like flying a plane blindfolded,” said Avram Wiseman, lead culinary instructor at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts in Midwood. “The restrictions can cause one to either rise to the challenge, or fail miserably.”

For a safe landing this Passover, which begins on April 19, Wiseman was kind enough to share his recipe for a pistachio dacquoise, which consists of layers of meringue and buttercream, so no flour needed.

The pistachio helps add texture, as well as a nice color, to the dessert.

“To me, it signals springtime,” said Wiseman. “Pistachio is a nice twist on it. It brings it up to another level.”

The nut goes along nicely with his chocolate buttercream — though almost any filling will do.

“It could be decadent and luxurious, or very light and simple,” said Wiseman.

After a heavy Seder meal, the latter would be advisable.

Pistachio dacquoise

Recipe courtesy of Avram Wiseman

Ingredients

For the meringue

12 ounces shelled pistachios

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

6 egg whites at room temperature.

1/2 cup cold water

For the buttercream

1-1/2 tbls. instant coffee

2 tsp. boiling water

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2 tbls. brandy

2 sticks sweet butter (margarine, if you’re keeping Kosher, obviously)

3 ounces cold water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

6  egg yolks

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and roast the pistachios for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.

Place pistachios in a food processor and chop to coarse crumb texture (reserve 1/4 cup for garnish).

Reduce oven temperature to 150 degrees.

Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper and draw a nine-inch circle on each piece of paper.

Combine 1-1/2 cups of sugar and the 1/2 cup of cold water in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Place a candy thermometer in the syrup and bring up to 230 degrees.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites by hand over a double boiler until warm. Place the whites into a mixer and whip on high until stiff peaks form. Slowly pour the syrup into the beating egg whites until very stiff. Fold the chopped pistachios into the meringue with a rubber spatula.

Place mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a straight tube and pipe concentric circles onto the parchment paper three times.

Bake at 250 degrees for two-and-a-half hours or until the meringues are crisp.

Once cool, remove the parchment (disks may be wrapped individually and stored for up to one week).

Chop chocolate into small pieces and place into a bowl. Dissolve the powdered instant coffee in the 2 teaspoons of boiling water. In the top part of a double boiler, combine the coffee, the chocolate and brandy over low heat until smooth. Set aside.

In an electric mixing bowl with paddle attachment, cream the margarine until smooth and set aside.

Combine 1/3 cup of water and the 1/2 cup of sugar and boil until the syrup reaches 230 degrees.

Meanwhile, whip egg yolks until light and frothy on high speed. Slowly pour the heated syrup over the yolks while still beating on high speed. Continue mixing until the yolks are cool to the touch and add in the softened margarine, one teaspoon at a time.

Add the chocolate mixture and blend well (buttercream may be kept refrigerated for several weeks).

To assemble

Spread the buttercream over each layer of meringue and repeat three times.

Continue to coat the sides with buttercream and garnish with remainder of chopped pistachios.

Pipe rosettes with fluted tipped pastry bag, around the top of the dacquoise if desired.

Chill to set and serve at room temperature.

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Grill up some citrus chicken

By Helen Klein

I’m the kind of person who will tiptoe through snow — as long as it’s not too deep — to grill dinner.

It’s no surprise then, that, now that the snow is long gone, I’m itching to barbecue.

For this meal, my inaugural 2011 cookout, I’m marinating chicken breasts, always a favorite, in a mix of citrus juices, spiked with vodka, and flavored with a bouquet of alliums — garlic, scallions and shallots — plus celery, a couple of my favorite spices, cumin and cayenne, and a bay leaf for good measure.

The combination of citric acid and alcohol is a heady one; both enable flavorings to penetrate deep into the meat, making for a more succulent finished dish.

And, cumin and citrus juice — here a blend of orange, lemon and lime juices, all freshly squeezed — is a natural pairing, found in the cuisines of regions as distant as Latin America and Asia. The dish is finished with fresh chopped cilantro, another nod to those areas’ culinary traditions.

Citrus Grilled Chicken

Serves four

Ingredients

3/4 lb. chicken breast cutlets, 1/2-inch thick

Juice of one large orange

Juice of one lemon

Juice of one lime

1/4 cup vodka

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 scallion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1 bay leaf, crushed

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a mixing bowl and blend thoroughly. Add chicken and turn till all meat has been covered with the marinade. Marinate, refrigerated, for at least two to four hours.

Preheat grill. Cook chicken over medium-high flame, turning every three to four minutes, for eight to 10 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade.

Remove from grill when meat is seared (but not burned) on the outside, and cooked through.

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For the grill

Jim Ryan is busy gearing for the annual Grillin’ on the Bay competition, but the Sheepshead Bay cook was willing to share with us the recipe for one of his favorites — marinated catfish. Fire up the grill!

Marinated catfish

Recipe courtesy of Jim Ryan

Serves eight

Ingredients

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and zest of lemon

2 tsp. granulated garlic

2 tsp. ground pepper

1 tsp. salt

8 catfish fillets

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive bowl and blend well. Rinse fish and pat dry. Put fish in a Ziploc bag and pour in marinade.  Mix it around to coat all over. Start your fire to medium hot and throw in a small handful of wood chips (soaked in water a half hour).

Remove fish from marinade. Put marinade in a small pot and boil for five minutes. Set aside this is your baste. Spray your cooking grate with cooking spray, place on grill and put the fish on it. 

Cover and cook until the fish flakes, basting with the marinade every two minutes or so.

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It's Purim - so get baking!

By Meredith Deliso

You can usually find hamantaschen — those three-cornered cookies filled with fruit or poppy seeds — year-round in bakeries. But traditionally, it’s a treat meant to be enjoyed during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Yiddish for “Haman’s pockets,” the pastry symbolizes the defeat of Haman, the villain of Purim, which celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot by the despot to annihilate them. So it’s one big party.

“Jewish holidays are extremely serious, but Purim is really about having a good time,” said pastry chef Lynn Kutner. “And it wouldn’t be a holiday without food.”

Kutner will host a class in making the pastry at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts in Midwood on March 13, which gives you plenty of time before the March 19 holiday to make dozens of batches.

The class will explore a variety of doughs, including nut, the traditional yeast, and sugar cookie. Below, Kutner shares with us a pâte sablée dough — a cross between a pie crust and a butter cookie dough.

“It’s not quite as sweet, since you’re already putting in sweet filling,” said Kutner. “It has a very lovely, falls-apart-in-your-mouth quality.”

You’ll notice the recipe has a choice of butter or margarine — the latter for Kosher cookers who can’t mix meat and diary. If that’s the case, make sure you double the vanilla.

“It kind of covers the taste of the margarine,” said Kutner. “You try to lessen its effect.”

And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper hamantasch without the filling, and Kutner will also teach you how to make a variety of those — ranging from raspberry to dried fruit to chocolate — for discerning tastes.

“Kids don’t like the dried fruit. At least with my kids, it’s chocolate or forget it,” said Kutner. “The dried fruit stuff is for your grandparents.”

Purim baking workshop at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts [1407 Coney Island Ave. between Avenue J and Avenue K in Midwood, (718) 758-1339], March 13 from 9:30 am-1:30 pm. $75. Registration required. For info, visit www.kosherculinaryarts.com.

Hamantaschen

Courtesy of Lynn Kutner

Makes about 20

Pâte sablée dough

1-3/4 cups (unbleached) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon)

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) butter or margarine, very soft

2-1/2 tablespoons sugar (3, if you are using margarine)

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla (2, if you are using margarine)

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla.

Work the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, starting with the wooden spoon and finishing with your hands, until it comes together in a ball. Form dough into three disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes to overnight.

Two simple fillings:

Chocolate-nut

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 tablespoon butter or oil

1/2 cup chopped roasted (either salted or unsalted) hazelnuts or pecans

Melt the chocolate and the butter or oil together over hot water. Remove and blend well. Mix in the chopped nuts. Cool a few minutes before using.

Dried fruit

1 cup prunes (canned moist-pack, if available) or dried apricots

2 tablespoons sugar, approximately

2 tablespoons orange juice, apricot nectar, or pineapple juice

Puree the fruit with the sugar and juice in a food processor. Taste for sweetness. Add a bit more sugar, if you like it a bit sweeter.  (Note that different batches of dried fruit vary in sweetness.)

Rolling and forming hamantaschen:

Roll one disk at a time to a thickness of about 1/8-inch on slightly floured silpat or a lightly floured pastry cloth. Cut with a floured 3-inch cutter, as close together as possible. (Gather up the scraps to roll out after you’ve done all three disks.)

Place about 1 teaspoon of filling in center of each round, and pinch edges three times to form a triangle. Pinch very firmly to keep the edges closed while baking. Chill a few minutes while you preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake about 15 minutes until lightly browned.

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Quesadilla: Spanish for fast food

By Helen Klein

Quesadillas are a culinary standby in my home — they’re easy to make, and incredibly versatile.

Just put together a savory mixture of vegetables and beans, top with cheese, fold into a tortilla and broil for a couple of minutes, and you have a flavorful main course that’s ready for prime time.

For this recipe, I combined chopped onion, garlic, celery and red pepper and sautéed till they were limp and the onions were translucent and caramelized. Then, I added a can of black beans (drained) and small cubes of crookneck squash (you could easily substitute zucchini).

After the squash had softened a bit, I added about half a cup of homemade tomato sauce I had in the fridge, and flavored the mixture with cumin, a pinch of very spicy habañero chili powder and salt and pepper.

Black Bean Quesadillas

Serves four

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 colored pepper, seeded and chopped

2 tbl. olive oil

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 summer squash, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1/2–3/4 cup favorite tomato sauce

1 tsp. cumin

Pinch habañero chili powder (substitute regular chili powder if you don’t like very spicy food)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

5 oz. Monterey Jack with jalapeño peppers, coarsely grated

4 eight-inch wheat tortillas

Non-stick cooking spray

Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing quesadillas

Directions

Preheat oven to broil.

Sauté onion, garlic, celery and pepper till softened in olive oil over medium-high heat, stirring to prevent burning. When vegetables are soft, add squash and beans, and continue cooking till squash is tender, adding a splash of water, as necessary, to prevent burning.

Add tomato sauce and spices and continue cooking another 5-10 minutes to blend flavors and heat through.

While vegetable mixture is cooking, spray a baking sheet lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

When the mixture is done, place a tortilla on the baking sheet, and top with a generous scoop of vegetables and beans, all to one side. Top with a generous sprinkling of cheese and fold over. Brush top with a little extra virgin olive oil. Continue with remaining tortillas.

When all tortillas are stuffed, place baking sheet in broiler and cook till top is golden and crisp, 1-3 minutes. Keep a careful eye on the quesadillas, as the tortillas can go from golden to burnt in just a few seconds.

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Spring ahead with this pasta

By Helen Klein

Bringing the flavors and fragrances of spring into the kitchen while it’s still winter proper takes a bit of culinary magic. Even out-of-season vegetables can taste delicious, though, if they are cooked with care and a degree of calculation.

In this pasta dish, for instance, the pepper and onion are cooked over moderate heat for long enough to caramelize their sugars, adding sweetness to slowly cooked tomatoes that, otherwise, would be unremarkable.

A generous handful of chopped fresh basil and parsley provides additional grace notes, as does the sliced garlic, evoking the warm breezes of the Mediterranean, even in February.

This dish is quick to make, and easy to alter to suit your tastes or what is in your pantry. Switch the herbs around if you like, substituting fresh oregano or dill for the basil. Vegetables can also bow in and out, with zucchini standing in for the yellow squash. Or, try asparagus or fresh green beans. Just make sure there’s an array of colors, which makes the finished dish look as good as it tastes.

Spring pasta

Serves four

Ingredients

1 tbl. olive oil

1/4 purple onion, coarsely diced

1 colored pepper, cored and coarsely diced

1 yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch-thick half moons

2-3 plum tomatoes, coarsely diced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2-3 tbl. extra virgin olive oil

8 oz. wagon wheel pasta, cooked till al dente and drained

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat olive oil in large non-stick frying pan.

Add onion and a little salt and sauté over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, till limp. Add colored pepper and continue cooking until pepper has softened. Add garlic, and continue sautéing another two to three minutes. Add squash, and continue sautéing until it has started to soften and turn translucent.

Add tomatoes, and cook until they are softened and their juices have rendered (about five to 10 minutes). Add basil and continue cooking another two to three minutes, stirring as needed.

Toss pasta with vegetable mixture in frying pan and cook to heat through. Remove from heat, and toss again with parsley and extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Warm up with these veggies

By Helen Klein

It may be cold outside, but vegetables that thrive in chilly weather enjoy a star turn in this warming Asian-inspired noodle dish that brings together some of my favorite flavors.

For this dish, I tossed together a bevy of veggies awaiting their summons in the crisper — broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, carrots and peppers — and upped the flavor quotient with onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, a dash of sesame oil and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

Most of the work was cutting up the vegetables. I set a wok with a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil up to heat after I’d sliced the onions and carrots, then tossed each vegetable in as I finished cutting it. By the time I’d finished slicing and sautéing, the noodles — which are soaked in hot water — were fully softened. Then, it was a matter of rinsing the noodles with cold water to stop them from getting gummy and sticking together, tossing the noodles with the vegetables, and blending both with the waiting sauces.

Like so many of my recipes, this one is easy to alter. If you don’t like or don’t have one or more of the vegetables, simply substitute something in its place — just make sure to start with the harder ones first, since they take longer to cook.

The amount of sauce can also be varied. Taste the dish as you go along, and add more hoisin or soy sauce as you want. You can also put a bottle of hot sauce, such as the recently hip sriracha, on the table, so diners can fan the flavor flames if they so desire.

Asian Noodle And Vegetable Sauté

Serves 4-6 as a light main dish, 8 as a side dish

Ingredients

10 oz. package cellophane noodles

2-3 tbl. peanut oil

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

1 cup baby carrots, sliced into coins

1 orange or red pepper, halved, cored and sliced

1 green pepper, halved, cored and sliced

1/4 head bok choy, sliced into ribbons

1 fist-size chunk of cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 fist-size chunk of broccoli, cut into small florets

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 quarter-sized slice of fresh ginger, cut into slivers

1 tbl. soy sauce

2-3 tbl. hoisin sauce, or more to taste

1/4 tsp. sesame oil

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat water, adding noodles before the water has begun to boil. Once boiling starts, turn off heat and soak for five minutes. Check texture of noodles, draining and rinsing with cold water if they are soft and pliable. Set aside.

In a large non-stick wok, heat peanut oil. When oil is hot, add onion slices and sauté till golden and translucent.

Add carrots and continue to sauté. When carrots have begun to soften, add pepper slices and bok choy ribbons and continue sautéing. When peppers have begun to soften, add cauliflower, broccoli, garlic and ginger, and continue sautéing. When broccoli and cauliflower are crisp-tender, add drained noodles and toss. Add soy sauce and hoisin sauce, adjusting flavor as necessary. Continue to cook, tossing to blend flavors.

Before serving, add sesame oil and cilantro (off the heat), tossing one more time.

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It's easy being green with this recipe

By Meredith Deliso

City Tech isn’t just about technology. If you’re looking to brush up on cooking skills, or even just looking for new ideas, the continuing education is offering special culinary classes this month.

“Seasoned foodies and amateurs alike will learn the tricks-of-the-trade that make for great meals,” said Diane Romeo, who runs the college’s adult education department.

That includes this recipe for green beans with tomato and fennel seed, a light, tasty and healthy treat included in the upcoming “Mediterranean Vegetarian” class on Nov. 12, where you’ll learn how to make it — as well as get to taste it — during a demonstration led by award-winning culinary instructor Michael Krondl.

The following week, delve into “Italian Regional Cooking: A Taste of Tuscany,” and you’ll be cooking like the pros — or your Italian grandmother — in no time.

“Mediterranean Vegetarian” at City Tech [300 Jay St. between Tillary and Johnson streets in Downtown, (718) 552-1170], Nov. 12 from 6:30-9:30 pm. $90; “Italian Regional Cooking: A Taste of Tuscany” on Nov. 19 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. $75. Pre-registration is required. For info, visit 

www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/index.shtml.

Fagiolini alla fiorentina (Green beans with tomato and fennel seed)

(serves 4)

1 pound green beans, trimmed

1/2 tsp. fennel seed

4 tbls. olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

Salt 

Pepper

1/2 cup strained tomatoes

In a steamer, steam the beans until they turn a bright green but are still very “al dente,” about two minutes. Drench in cold running water.

Lightly crush the fennel seeds using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.  

Heat the oil in a sauté pan over moderate heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft and transparent, about five minutes. Add the beans, fennel and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to sauté for one minute. Add the tomato, cover and cook about 15 minutes until the beans are very tender. The beans should be almost dry. If there is a lot of liquid, boil the beans over high heat, stirring, until the liquid is no more than a thick glaze. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust seasoning as necessary.

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Honey-flavored Halloween

By Meredith Deliso

Need a sweet treat for Halloween? Look no further.

The ladies behind Liddabit Sweets, a Bedford-Stuyvesant bakery that can also be found all over Brooklyn at places like the Brooklyn Flea and Bklyn Larder, have shared with us their recipe for Honey-nut Popcorn Balls, a crunchy, sugary snack that’s just the right shape for some Halloween-themed decorating, if you’re in the mood.

“You could certainly stick some candies on there to make a Jack O’ Lantern face,” volunteered co-founder Liz Gutman. Though, after our own little taste test, these treats are sweet enough without the extra sugar!

They’re best within a few days of making, but will stay good for up to a week, for a post-Halloween sugar high.

Honey-nut Popcorn Balls

(makes about 20)

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 tbl. honey

3/4 tsp. baking soda

10 cups popped corn (1 plain microwave bag or 1/4 cup kernels)

1-1/2 cups roasted almonds (or whatever nut you like)

Directions

Have on hand an oiled bowl, with the popped popcorn in it, and two oiled, heat-proof spatulas or spoons. (Be vigilant about removing all unpopped kernels.)

In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add sugars, salt, honey, and corn syrup and cook to 300 degrees over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. The mixture will look thick and bubbly. Add the baking soda and stir well to incorporate; it will increase in volume.

Pour the caramel evenly over the popcorn in the oiled bowl, then sprinkle the nuts. Using your spatulas or spoons, toss together until corn is evenly coated. When the caramel has cooled somewhat but not brittle, after two to three minutes of tossing, shape into two-inch balls with lightly oiled hands. (Don’t be afraid to really crush the popcorn to mold it into a ball. And, since the caramel is still somewhat hot at this point, this isn’t an activity for kids).

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