Mark Richmond, popcorn and konosuke HDs

I wanted the freedom to discuss popcorn, konosuke HD gyutos and mark Richmond all at the same time. I put all 3 subjects in the title, that away we won't be going off topic, out of respect to some forum members. So I guess I'll get the ball rolling, yesterday I was sharpening up several of my gyutos one of which is my kono HD. That knife still to this day has to be my favorite non carbon knife to sharpen. But in the last year or so I've begun to feel like the kono has a bit too much curve towards the tip. But it's, not just konosuke, I feel this way about all the Sakai lasers I've tried. It's pretty exciting to see flatter versions of these gyutos being made by a couple of different makers(konosuke and Sakai Yusuke). I wanted popcorn while I was sharpening but I'm not sure I have the right pot to cook it, does anybody have recommendations or pics of their popcorn pot? I speaking of sharping, does anybody else get a kick out of watching marks old sharpening videos?

I locked the original thread at the OP's request, but this really *would* be the proper way to carry on a conversation about all 3 things at the same time

I use a 100 year old cast iron Dutch oven. Perfect every time.

I like kettle corn.

for an extra challenge, try popping Quinoa. Delicious and dainty

:thumbsup:

labor of love said:

I wanted the freedom to discuss popcorn, konosuke HD gyutos and mark Richmond all at the same time. I put all 3 subjects in the title, that away we won't be going off topic, out of respect to some forum members. So I guess I'll get the ball rolling, yesterday I was sharpening up several of my gyutos one of which is my kono HD. That knife still to this day has to be my favorite non carbon knife to sharpen. But in the last year or so I've begun to feel like the kono has a bit too much curve towards the tip. But it's, not just konosuke, I feel this way about all the Sakai lasers I've tried. It's pretty exciting to see flatter versions of these gyutos being made by a couple of different makers(konosuke and Sakai Yusuke). I wanted popcorn while I was sharpening but I'm not sure I have the right pot to cook it, does anybody have recommendations or pics of their popcorn pot? I speaking of sharping, does anybody else get a kick out of watching marks old sharpening videos?

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G-rat said:

I use a 100 year old cast iron Dutch oven. Perfect every time.

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Well I have several of these, so lid or no lid?

I always thought California pot was the only right stuff for popcorn...

Oh and since this thread is more than just popcorn--I can't comment on Konosuke, but I'll give a big shout out to Chef's Knives that Blow--hey Mark, [content removed]

I use a 80 year old cast iron as well, medium heat , canola , and some whole cloves of garlic. Just move constantly while on the heat, garlic roast a little and steams. Delicious, for and extra kick i use a little sambal butter, I use chopsticks to eat it to keep my fingers fresh, hahaha.

Has anyone tried any of Penzeys cheese seasonings on popcorn yet? Next trip, I may be picking some up. I used to have some fantastic sour cream n onion stuff too, but alas have not seen it in years.

Lid definitely. I put it on high with about an 1/8 of a cup of veg oil in the bottom. Let the oil feather and get hot. Dump in my kernels and coat with the oil. Put the lid on and let it pop for about two or three minutes. Then turn the heat down low for it to finish so you don't burn any kernels. We like nutritional yeast too or brown butter and 3 parts sugar to 1 part salt.

:doublethumbsup::nicethread:

DeepCSweede said:

Has anyone tried any of Penzeys cheese seasonings on popcorn yet? Next trip, I may be picking some up. I used to have some fantastic sour cream n onion stuff too, but alas have not seen it in years.

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You know what else is awesome...VooDoo-Creole seasoning from New Orleans. Just spicy enough and one of its primary ingredients is salt. It is perfect every time.
I also prefer the kettle cooked...but alas I have no old dutch oven to use. Anyone know where I can pick one up?

This is where we go off topic. Read up on the effects of quinoa farming in Peru and Ecuador. What vegetarians and unthinking food persons have done simply put is put a staple grain of the population out of the price range of that people group. Imagine Cajuns or Asians being unable to afford rice, or An Italian unable to afford durum. Plenty of grains out there lets let this one be until we learn to better cultivate it

I also like voodoo, but slap ya mama's from ville platte is better

Okay, so having never done the home-made skillet popcorn thing before (have used air pop) can someone explain how it is so much better? Is it the method? The ability to use better kernels? I'm seriously in the dark here and popcorn has come up on like, 5 threads in the last week. Can someone help clue me in?

And to tie back to the Kono HD... uh... how does the stainless handle... um... chopping the corn kernels? Is that a legit tie-in?

Dardeau said:

I also like voodoo, but slap ya mama's from ville platte is better

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I LOVE slap ya mamma, but it's a little too hot for my wife on popcorn. We use it all the time for brased butternut squash though. mmmm Good stuff

so....I'm going to get in trouble if I talk about creamed corn?

well, that's probably appropriate no matter the context, that stuff is just nasty.

Great thread idea LOL (notice there's no comma).

bprescot said:

Okay, so having never done the home-made skillet popcorn thing before (have used air pop) can someone explain how it is so much better? Is it the method? The ability to use better kernels? I'm seriously in the dark here and popcorn has come up on like, 5 threads in the last week. Can someone help clue me in?

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In my experience popping in oil adds flavor, mouthfeel and helps salt/ seasoning stick better. Growing up we had an oil popper and ate popcorn regularly. Then in a heath-craze moment, the oil popper was tossed and replaced with a hot-air popper. The only way to make that popcorn taste good was to drown it in a ton of melted butter after it popped, which was, of course, unhealthy. So the hot-air popped was packed up and stashed, and we did not have popcorn anymore.

WildBoar said:

In my experience popping in oil adds flavor, mouthfeel and helps salt/ seasoning stick better. Growing up we had an oil popper and ate popcorn regularly. Then in a heath-craze moment, the oil popper was tossed and replaced with a hot-air popper. The only way to make that popcorn taste good was to drown it in a ton of melted butter after it popped, which was, of course, unhealthy. So the hot-air popped was packed up and stashed, and we did not have popcorn anymore.

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All things considered, I'd rather eat styrofoam packing peanuts than air popped popcorn.

Pensacola Tiger said:

All things considered, I'd rather eat styrofoam packing peanuts than air popped popcorn.

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lus1:

Oil selection plays a critical role in the flavor of popped corn. and as WildBoar said, it will allow your after-pop seasonings to stick much better. I used to put kosher salt in with the oil and popcorn, as that is the best way to make it stick. Then I started using garlic salt, which has a tendency to scorch when used that way.

I'm definitely going to have to add jalepeno powder and nutritional yeast to my regime though. And I got some good parmigiana-reggiano to try this weekend, but didn't quite make it...maybe one night this week.

Joy of Cooking has a great recipe for molasses candied pop corn.

There is an old family dish I make on Thanksgiving that is creamed corn, oysters, cracker crumbs, eggs, milk and butter - a savory baked custard. It's the only time I eat creamed corn really.

I love my Kono HD 270 Kiritsuke Gyuto - not too much belly on mine - in fact I wish my belly was as flat.

Yeah Mark's old videos are fun to watch so is his mustard patina one.

Dardeau said:

I also like voodoo, but slap ya mama's from ville platte is better

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1+

Hidden valley ranch dry packet seasoning anyone?

Zwiefel said:

so....I'm going to get in trouble if I talk about creamed corn?

well, that's probably appropriate no matter the context, that stuff is just nasty.

Great thread idea LOL (notice there's no comma).

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Great now I am hijacking a thread - MODS FLOG ME!!!!unish:

Have you tried Thomas Keller's Creamed Corn recipe. Fantastic stuff.

Creamed corn is essential when discussing the trifecta of: Creamed corn, spinach and onions.

WildBoar said:

In my experience popping in oil adds flavor, mouthfeel and helps salt/ seasoning stick better. Growing up we had an oil popper and ate popcorn regularly. Then in a heath-craze moment, the oil popper was tossed and replaced with a hot-air popper. The only way to make that popcorn taste good was to drown it in a ton of melted butter after it popped, which was, of course, unhealthy. So the hot-air popped was packed up and stashed, and we did not have popcorn anymore.

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I agree with you 100% completely. A a few years ago I had the idea to do "Dinner and a movie" price fixed menu at the restaurant. We were a outside restaurant and had a huge projection TV that was used for the DJ During club hours. There was a vew of a radio tower right behind the screen that was projected upon. It reminded me of the RKO tower, the whole thing seemed to have the look and feel of a drive-in theater ; thus Strike the idea. Anyway in order not to have the whole thing looked completely cheesy I knew the trick would be in the finer details. We Made a video and edited it into the pre-movie that had all of the old movie cartoons and advertisements ( You know the let's go out to the movies dancing popcorn bag). We also got and showed the movie trailers for the movie that would be shown in the "Dinner and a movie" nights that were coming up. We had the whole summer's list of movies and team-based menus printed to look like a playbill, And printed the night's menu on a 6 x 9 movie ticket. We rolled out a red carpet, placed some old movie chairs in front of the screen that I found on eBay. Dressed the hostess up in a cute usher style outfit, And the cocktail waitress in the bar area got a cigarette girl looking costume, Gave out free candy at the bar and complementary cotton candy after the meal to the à la carte diners. There were several more little touches that really helped make the night very successful now here's where I get back on the subject of popcorn.
One of those little touches was of course a popcorn machine the movie popcorn machines are oil poppers. We got a somewhat large one but in looking for it i found that the companies that make them did make home sized models. "Theater II" Was the company that made the Pop machine I got, but "Whirley Pop" Also made a nice machine. As for oil my initial thought (which turned out to be a tasty one) was to use peanut oil. Depending on the movie I tried to theme the flavor of some of the popcorn's. I did a chili pepper one flavored with Habanero oil that was great. I also did a smoky flavor one With smoked avocado oil that was pretty cool for the movie "Backdraft"
And for the record I love the taste that Lawry's seasoning salt gives to popcorn it's my "go to" seasoning.

Anybody know of a good alternative to popcorn? Hubby loves it, but had a dental implant done recently and was told no popcorn, ever again. I guess there's a risk of the hulls and pointy bits getting caught up under the implant.

I'll ask.

What's the deal with Mark Richmond? All I know is that he's very business and marketing oriented. What's everyone's beef with him?

Don Nguyen said:

I'll ask.

What's the deal with Mark Richmond? All I know is that he's very business and marketing oriented. What's everyone's beef with him?

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If we keep discussing popcorn like this, I'm sure mark will have a variety of microwave popcorn available on his site soon.