This time of year, we're enjoying the changing of the leaves, the crisp air, adding a few fun layers, and getting in all the football games possibly from college to pro! Whomever you're cheering for, it's an opportunity to gather with family, friends, and colleagues throughout the week whether you're tailgating or homegating!

We headed over to Chef Eddie Jackson, NFL veteran and host of Food Network shows' Outchef'd and Christmas Cookie Challenge to talk about how we can take our entertaining to the next level when our teams are hitting the field, how we can make it easy on ourselves, his football picks, and of course his upcoming show for the holiday season!

ATHLEISURE MAG: So what was the first dish that made you fall in love with food?

CHEF EDDIE JACKSON: Ooo, so I grew up in a family of chefs. My grandmothers on either sides were chefs. Yeah, and I just remember making biscuits in my grandmother's kitchen when I was like four or five years old.

AM: Well, you know, being an NFL Alum, we know that, you know, a thing or two about playing the game, we know you're watching it and of course what foods pair well with it. You know, whether we're tailgating or at the stadium or we're homegating, how can we make the perfect pairings for our next football game?

CHEF EJ: Well, first off football season is my favorite time of the year. For one, I love football, but two - it's all about tailgating and homegating. I made a cookbook that's all about homegating recipes, right? And so, I love giving people tips to show them how they can homegate tailgate, like a pro. And in this instance, I've teamed up and partnered up with Bota Box wine to create these delicious pairings, with some recipes. But then also, picking and choosing some of the wines that they have to go with different flavors that I created with the wings that I made for them.

AM: I mean, that's amazing and I love a good wing! I actually have a wing recipe coming out next year in a cookbook.

CHEF EJ: Hold on! You just have a wing recipe?

AM: So it's a compilation. So we've been doing different cookbook recipes where it's always been a number of other chefs that have also participated and this is our third one. I made a very tasty recipe that will be out next year! It’s a very zippy Mezcal Chimichurri wing!

CHEF EJ: Ooo, I see you Kimmie!

AM: I know right? I mean, I know you love a good chicken wing so how can we take our wings to the next level Chef Eddie style?

CHEF EJ: Alright! So I have a few things that I that I've created so the thing about homegating and tailgating is that you want to find different flavor upgrades, but you want to keep things simple, right?

AM: Exactly.

CHEF EJ: So I have some brawts that I've uh braised in some white wine. I have this Bota Box Pinot Grigio that we braise the brats in to kind of cut through some of the fattiness that brats can have. Another upgrade that you can do is like I have a slider recipe, right? So, sliders are simple. Everybody knows how to make a slider. So what we're going to do, is we're going to upgrade it and make a spicy ketchup. And in this instance, I'm making a jerk ketchup.

AM: Oh wow, okay!

CHEF EJ: I lived in Miami for a while and so I kind of fell in love with those jerk spices and jerk flavors. So we're gonna add that to some sliders to upgrade it. And then we get to the the piece de resistance, right? So we have some wings! I have a whole chapter in my book about wings!

Don't do, takeout, you can make wings! Wings are super easy! You can make your own different sauces and you can control the pairings, you can control the spice and smoky levels to the wings. So I have this wing recipe that's a little bit, smoky a little bit spicy and that's great to pair with something like this Bota Box Revolution, which is a red blend. It's going to cut through some of the greasiness that these wings have, right?

AM: Right.

And why did you want to, you know, partner up with Bota Box?

CHEF EJ: Well, first off. I love the brand. I have boxes of this at my house that they sent me. I thought, ok, this is delicious! Not only that, but I think that Bota Box brand is perfect for tailgating, right? So, no cork screw, it’s easily portable and it has a handle right on top, but not only that in this 3L box, you have 4 bottles of wine. Now, you look like the type of person that loves a little wine right? 4 bottles of wine in one box!

That’s perfect for tailgating, if I don't say something myself. But then it's just a great brand and it’s eco-friendly all these things. I think that, you know, the thing about tailgating is that you want one-handers. So you get you one of these 500ml - you got that in one hand. You got a brawt in the other hand. You know you’re just going back and forth. Take a little sip. Take a little bite of the bratwurst.

AM: Yup.

CHEF EJ: Perfect for a tailgate and overall, it's just a great company that I fell in love with once I did my research on it. I tasted some of the wines and felt that I could get behind the product and it's been a beautiful pairing. See what I did there?

AM: I caught what you did there! I Love the pairing.

CHEF EJ: It’s been a beautiful pairing ever since.

AM: So what tips do you have for people who are hosting? A lot of times we're so into creating that tailgate or that homegate that maybe we get lost in the kitchen as opposed to watching the game and hanging out with our friends. So what can we do to prep ourselves a little better?

CHEF EJ: So just like on the football field, it's all about preparation and execution. Like I said before, you want to focus on the food and the drink. So you want to keep it simple. So all of my recipes are really simple but I have these really good tricks and things to upgrade it so that you're not spending a lot of time. But then not only that, you take this Bota Box, it's already made for you. We're not spending time making the drinks. All you have to do is just twist it off and pour it. You don't have to worry about a corkscrew. So it's more time that you get to spend watching the game, hanging out with your friends and keeping it simple!

AM: Keeping it simple is always good! So we are in the thick of the football season right now. Who are you cheering for? Who do you predict is going to the Super Bowl?

CHEF EJ: You know, I keep getting this question over and over. I'm a huge football fan, right? My favorite team is the 49ers but we're not looking too good right now. We kind of had an up and down season so far just because of injuries, but this season has been very unique because it's so many teams that are good - that has have never been good.

AM: 100%

CHEF EJ: Detroit Lions are really good. In the last couple of years, I’m like, where did they come from? They've been terrible for so long! So now all of a sudden, they’re really good! So I think that the Detroit Lions have a great chance of making it to the Super Bowl. Baltimore Ravens have a great chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Of course, the Kansas City Chiefs. You also have Buffalo. The Buffalo Bills are really good! Let's not forget about the Vikings and how good they're doing right now. So, it's just so many teams that are just killing it, this season. I mean, I'm really excited because, you know, it's kind of like, in basketball you get tired of seeing the Golden State Warriors every year.

I want to see a new team this year kind of shine and so, that's why I'm excited about this season.

AM: Well, we just came off of covering the Food Network NYC Wine Food Festival over the past four days. So it's been a hectic few days. It’s always great seeing you on Outchef’d or the Christmas Cookie Challenge. Are there any upcoming programs that we should be keeping an eye out for from you?

CHEF EJ: Yeah, so actually the Christmas Cookie Challenge is going to start up in a in a couple weeks now because believe it or not, we are getting into the holiday season. I can't believe that!

AM: I know right, this is the season!

CHEF EJ: I know! I also saw in a shopping strip that they had Christmas lights out a couple of days ago!

AM: I saw a Christmas commercial last night and heard Christmas music and I'm like, wait that's too soon! You at least have to wait until Halloween is over!

CHEF EJ: So that'll be coming out in a couple of weeks and, you know it’s the holiday time once Christmas Cookie Challenge comes on! We’re going into our 8th season. So once that starts to play that's when I know it's it's the holiday time!

AM: Are there other projects you have going on outside of TV that you would like for us to know about?

CHEF EJ: I mean, I stay busy. I have two young kids. I'm always busy. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was like, you know what? I'm ready to write my second cookbook.

AM: Alright now!

CHEF EJ: I'm gonna start working on my second cookbook and maybe Homegate Like a Pro 2.0, you know what I mean?

AM: For sure!

CHEF EJ: So maybe I will have a whole section in there with wine pairings. I don’t know.

AM: Nice, we’re here for the elevation!

IG @chefeddiejackson

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 55 Food Network/Christmas Cookie Challenge | PG 56 Outchef'd | PG 58 Bota Box |