A snackable cure for the football blues

In the annals of unfortunately timed cookbooks, the new “Tailgreat: How to Crush It at Tailgating” (Ten Speed Press; $28) ranks up there.

The book, by the James Beard Awardwinning chef John Currence, debuted Aug. 28, just a few weeks after the announcement that most college football games, including the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, have been canceled for the season.

Currence owns four restaurants in the football-mad college town of Oxford, Mississippi. As the leading chef in the University of Mississippi’s hometown, he has become a master at preparing food for the legendary tailgates at the Grove, the 10-acre party space on campus.

Currence notes that, while a good tailgate upgrades the spectator’s experience, the food needs to be interesting. “Tailgating has become sterile as far as menu selection goes. It’s like a repeat loop in an old cartoon: Cold chicken tenders, pimento cheese, seven-layer dip. Repeat.” The book offers a total of 125 recipes for high-flavor party food, from grilled wedge salad on a stick to sweet-mustard pulled pork.

But it’s his recipe for Spicy Fried Chicken Buttered Popcorn that stands out. There’s no actual fried chicken in this recipe for what is essentially a very luscious, buttery and highly seasoned popcorn, and it should not be confused with the fried nuggets known as popcorn chicken. This popcorn’s intense flavor comes from a seasoning mix that Currence makes with a mix of chicken soup base, garlic powder, cayenne and Accent (or MSG) that clings tightly to the kernels, thanks to all that butter.

What’s incredible about this addictive snack, though, is the way it is popped. Currence cooks the kernels in an insane amount of clarified butter instead of oil. This method suffuses the popcorn with an even richness instead of the soggy clump that results from adding melted butter at the end. It also makes the kernels tender but crisp outside.

“This spicy fried chicken version is crazy fun and surprising,” Currence says. If the end product doesn’t taste exactly like fried chicken, it is still profoundly chicken-y, along with the salty, peppery, savory accents that go into a good fried bird’s crust.

And there’s still hope you can serve this popcorn at a socially distanced tailgate. The SEC hasn’t canceled its season, at least not yet.