Kettle Corn à la Yukon Dude

I had forgotten that kettle corn even existed until buying a bag at last summer's Dawson City Music Festival. Strange, since it clearly obeys my Law of Deliciousity:

Sugar, Salt, Fat: Pick two.

Advanced corollary to the law: Pick three.

Kettle corn is surprisingly easy to make, extremely economical, and relatively choke-resistant, which is important given the speed that you'll soon be scarfin’ it down.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup el-cheapo popcorn. No need for Orville's services here.
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Corn oil seems appropriate.
• 1/4 cup white sugar. I haven't perfected my brown sugar recipe yet.
• 1 tsp salt. Or more. Hell, it's a recipe, not a court order.

Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add a two or three kernels to start, and when you hear their plaintive little pops, turn down the heat to just a little more than medium and add the corn and the sugar.

There are two important rules to obey at this point: don't peek under the lid, and keep shaking that pot vigorously every five seconds or so. If you have a boiling oil-proof face guard, then by all means sneak a look once in a while.

Keep shaking that pot (oven mitts are helpful to hold the lid on) until the popping starts to slow. Turn off the heat. Keep it on the burner and keep shaking until a second or two goes by without a pop. Remove the pot from the heat, but keep the lid on for a moment lest a corn explosion spray your kitchen with sticky oil.

Pour about half of the corn into a bowl and salt liberally. Pour the rest in (quickly so it doesn't stick in a lump) and salt that too.

Scarf away.