Cracker Jack

I’m not sure I know anybody that doesn’t like Cracker Jack. Popcorn, Caramel, Nuts- pretty much everything a snack should include. I’m going to admit I was a little hesitant to make this since it seemed like the whole caramel making process could turn into an epic disaster. Once you do it though, it’s a piece of cake and you’ll just want to keep making this. I decided to ignore the traditional peanuts and use roasted pecans instead. Much better in my opinion.

Ingredients:

About 8 cups popped popcorn

2 cups brown sugar

½ cup light corn syrup

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

½ tsp salt plus about 1 tsp for sprinkling

¼ tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup dry roasted pecans

Preheat oven to 225 degrees (f). Heavily oil two or three cookie sheets and set aside. The non-stick spray stuff simply won’t work so use the real stuff (vegetable oil).

In a saucepan, melt together brown sugar, butter, cream of tarter and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. It is extremely useful if you have a candy thermometer since you will need to know when the temperature of the mixture reaches 250 degrees (f). Once you have reached 250 degrees, it’s time to remove from the heat and whisk in baking soda. The mixture should foam a bit.

Pour the mixture over the popcorn and toss, making sure to coat all of the popcorn. Gently fold in pecans. Spread mixture onto cookie sheets, sprinkle with a little kosher salt, and bake for about 1 hour. Check on your cracker jack every twenty minutes or so and give it a stir.

When you take the popcorn out of the oven, slide mixture off of the cookie sheet and onto waxed paper. Let cool for one hour. Break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Pita Chips

Serve these with any sort of dip or jut eat them alone. These were created especially for the spinach artichoke dip above.

Ingredients: 

1 package of pita bread (The foodiecall kitchen like plain old white but you can use whole wheat or any of the fancy schmancy flavored ones)

 

2 tbs oregano

2 ½ tbs dried thyme leaves

1 tbs cracked black pepper

½ tsp ground mustard

¾ tbs garlic powder

2 tbs sea salt

Olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 350. Line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Cut pita bread rounds in half. Then cut the halves into three or four sections. At this point the two facing sides of the pita bread should be attached. Pull those apart and toss into big bowl.

Pour in enough olive oil to coat all chips. Toss with seasoning mix and divide chips between baking sheets. Spread into one layer on sheet.

 Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until chips are only slightly crispy and golden. Dont worry if some of the chips still feel sorta floppy. They typically harden up when they cool.