Asiago Garlic Herb Popcorn

For a variety of boring reasons, my husband and I didn't get around to having dinner until very late last night. Late enough that making the corn chowder I'd planned seemed ridiculous. Bare cupboards meant our options were pretty much oatmeal or popcorn. I remembered this amazing looking popcorn recipe from Our Best Bites (and am not the biggest fan of oatmeal anyway), so popcorn it was! It turned out very yummy and even rather gourmet, or at least as gourmet as popcorn can be. We sat on the couch and devoured it while hunched over the big plastic mixing bowl with a movie in the background. We may or may not have this popcorn for dinner again (no promises!), but I definitely plan to make it for the occasional treat!

Quick note: Grate the asiago with a micro plane grater (like this) so it's very fine and will melt onto the popcorn quickly. Also, make sure you have the butter mixture and grated asiago ready to go before you pop the popcorn because you want to add the cheese right away so it has a chance to melt. The cheese probably won't all melt on, but that's okay! If the popcorn cooled too fast and the cheese fell to the bottom of the mixing bowl instead of melting, you could try spreading the whole shebang on a large rimmed cookie sheet and baking it for a couple of minutes so the cheese will melt.

Asiago Garlic Herb Popcorn

1 T butter
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried basil
3/4 C very finely grated fresh asiago cheese (not packed into measuring cup)
1/2 C popcorn kernels
salt to taste

Melt the butter and olive oil together in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until beginning to turn golden, a minute or two. Remove from heat and stir in thyme and basil. Pop popcorn and catch it in a large mixing bowl. As soon as popcorn has popped, drizzle over butter garlic mixture and sprinkle with asiago. Toss immediately to coat using a large mixing spoon, then add salt to taste and toss again.