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‘Tailgreat’ remembers when we could gather

Though football tailgating parties may be ‘a thing we used to do’ that we reminisce about during COVID-19, we can still have some flavors while stuck at home for the foreseeable future.

James Beard Award winner and Top Chef Masters contestant John Currence has recently released “Tailgreat,” a cookbook that collects 120 tailgate-friendly recipes that home cooks can replicate for fun at home.

With chapter titles like “Squeeze Play,” “Fourth and 9” and The Freaking Refs!” the love of the game is evident through the book and the food.

The book runs through plenty of appetizers, main dishes, sides and desserts that will please a palate and make great dishes to share with friends (if we were allowed to see people, that is.)

Some example dishes that are full of flavor found within include Lamb Kheema Puffs with Spicy Indian Ketchup, Pimento Cheese Sausage Balls, Turkey and Ham “Cobb” Wrap, Smoked Shrimp Salad, Spicy Five-Bean Salad, Beef and Cheddar Hot Dog Links, Easy as Pie Oven BBQ Ribs, Sisters’ Chocolate Chip Cookies and Buttermilk Chess Pie Bites.

(Photograph copyright 2020 by Peter Frank Edwards)

Below is a Buffalo Chicken Dip to enjoy in front of your television at home. Play some Fantasy Baseball and imagine you were at a game!

“Tailgreat” is published by Ten Speed Press.

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Reprinted from TAILGREAT: How to Crush it at Tailgating. Copyright ç 2020 by John Currence. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

GOD’S OWN BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

Serves 12

There is no better chicken to make this with than Popeyes spicy, dark meat fried chicken. I have tried. Trust me. Nothing else measures up.

This is one of the most popular dishes on our current tailgate menu. I freely admit we cannot get enough Popeyes to make the twenty or so gallons of this we put out every home game, but it is decidedly better with the gold standard of fried chicken. If you can’t get Popeyes, another brand or homemade will do (tenders are an easy way to go, but boneless thighs crush it). I am secretly researching a project to genetically engineer a chicken that is nothing but eight thighs. To date it appears to be an enormously ugly but delicious bird. (Do I smell Nobel attention? I think so. You read it here first.)

8 cups finely chopped leftover commercially fried chicken, preferably Popeyes (see Note)

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 cup hot sauce, preferably Texas Pete

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese

1/2 cup sliced green onion, for garnish

Celery sticks, crackers, or chips for serving

Preheat the oven to 350∂F. Butter a 4-quart souffle dish.

Place the chicken in a large bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Turn down the mixer to low and add the mayonnaise and buttermilk, beating until smooth. Add the dill, parsley, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt, and black pepper, beating until well combined. Slowly add the hot sauce and lemon zest and juice. Pour the mix over the chicken, stirring to blend. Stir in the blue cheese. Pour into the prepared souffle dish and bake for 25 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned on top.

Garnish with the green onion and serve hot with celery, crackers, chips, or a combination.

NOTE: For those of you who still stick to health-consciousness when it comes to your tailgate affairs, you can substitute rotisserie chicken, but you will never know the glory of excess and we can never be friends.

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