Rosemary Olive Oil Popcorn

Hi Mamas:

I promised to post so many recipes last month...and here we are about to meet again! We'll see what I can manage to type up in my spare minutes here and there.

Ingredients:

several branches fresh rosemary
1 - 1 1/2 cups olive oil
good salt, to taste
1/2 cup popcorn
1/4 to 1/2 cup pine or other nuts (optional)
fresh rosemary leaves, to garnish the popcorn

1. Cut the rosemary branches to fit in bottom of a medium saucepan. Warm the olive oil and rosemary over low heat for 5 minutes. Allow the oil to cool and sit at room temperature for as long as you can stand to wait. (I aim for 24 hours, but on the night you mamas tasted this recipe, I think that the herbs had infused the oil for only 2 hours or so.) Refrigerate the oil after 24 hours.
2. Toast nuts gently in the oven and set aside. Chop a few tablespoons of rosemary leaves finely. These will garnish the finished dish.
   
3. Set out a large bowl for the finished popcorn. Strain rosemary branches from the olive oil. (Reserve the rest of the oil for another use.) Heat 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the infused olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium or medium-high heat. (I cook popcorn at just a little past medium on my stove.) When the oil is hot enough to move in thin sheets across the bottom of the pan when tilted, add the popcorn, shake a couple of times, and put a lid on the pan. Pop the corn until you hear a 2-3 second pause between pops, then pour into serving bowl. Sprinkle the corn with chopped rosemary, salt, and nuts. Yum!