Snacks for movies

A night at the movies ... in your living room!

As the summer nights begin to cool and the hours of daylight diminish the prospect of a movie night becomes ever more tantalising. Snuggling up on the couch and surrounding yourself with your favourite snacks before delving into hours of guilty pleasure films or Hollywood blockbuster epics can be a perfect night.

There used to be a time when a trip to the local video shop was needed to gather a collection of your favourite movies. However, thanks to high competition with broadband phone packages movies are just a click away and they are streaming online through your TV.

To have the movie night as the ultimate stay at home evening you can make your own delicious snacks.

Here are two recipes to keep viewers fully fed and entertained for the evening.

These two dips can become mouth wateringly addictive. Double up the amount as they are sure to be gone before the opening credits begin.

For the salsa: Chop one fresh chilli, a box of cherry tomatoes and a red onion. Mix it all together and squeeze half a lime while stirring. Remember to continually taste when adding the lime as it can become overpowering fast. Add a little bit of mint into the salsa if you want that cool aftertaste.

For the guacamole: Grab 2-3 ripe avocados and mash them in a bowl, dice a medium red onion and mix with the avocado before adding some paprika. Take several large dollops of sour cream and mix to taste then finish off with a squeeze of lime juice. Then add the secret ingredient: sweet chilli sauce. Put this in the guacamole and it will be devoured in seconds!

Use the dips and make the ultimate cinema meal by frying up some mixed pulses seasoned with Cajun, turmeric, garlic, chilli and paprika, throwing them over some nachos and the dips before finishing with cheese on top. Messy but delicious!

Ditch the microwave popcorn and grab a bag of kernels to pop your own. There are really no measurements or complexities here as each person’s taste are different.

Simply fry some butter and oil in a deep pan over a high heat until it starts bubbling and then add some salt. Pour enough kernels in so the oil and butter just covers them and cover the pan. Once the popping begins wait until you hear them diminish to around two pops every couple of seconds and then take off the heat.

It is important to not have the pan too hot as it can burn extremely easy. Once shared out in the bowls you can add more salt to taste. This will not only give extra flavour, but help absorb any excess oil.