Former WLWT reporter cooks on 'Today' show, puts chocolate in Texas chili

Former WLWT-TV (Channel 5) sports reporter and Sports Illustrated Bengals reporter-turned-chef, Elise Jesse, joined the "Today" show Thursday, where she combined her love of cooking with football. Jesse is no stranger to TV (or cooking), but it wasn't until she broke away from the sidelines to "dabb

What to Cook

SEE ALL

USA Today

If you love Doritos you have to try this new flavor coming soon

The Daily Meal Glance

Choose This Air Fryer Setting For High-Moisture Foods Every Time

Trendline

King Oyster Mushrooms Emerge as Key Ingredient for Vegan Scallops

What is the story about?

Former WLWT-TV (Channel 5) sports reporter and Sports Illustrated Bengals reporter-turned-chef, Elise Jesse, joined the "Today" show Thursday, where she combined her love of cooking with football.

Jesse is no stranger to TV (or cooking), but it wasn't until she broke away from the sidelines to "dabble in cooking" alongside famed chef Gordon Ramsay

on season 5 of "Next Level Chef" that she really leaned into this next chapter.

The Oak Hills High School and Mount St. Joseph University graduate took things to a new level Oct. 15, joining "Today" for its "Today Food Loves Football" segment where she crafted game-day dishes ahead of "Sunday Night Football," which also airs on NBC.

It was also announced that Jesse would be launching a virtual cooking

club next month, but no details were revealed on how that would look or where it would be released.

Elise Jesse (@ejscookin) has 71,800 followers on Instagram.

During the segment, Jesse gave step-by-step instructions on how to make two dishes that paid homage to this week's "SNF" teams: the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers.

For the Packers, she made brat and beer cheese pretzel poppers. For the Cowboys, Jesse crafted Texas chili-loaded potato bites (but she still found a way to mention Cincinnati's chili).

"And the secret ingredient is chocolate?" one of the "Today" show anchors asked Jesse.

"That's my Cincinnati showing. I cannot eat chili without chocolate in it; it brings so much depth. It's so good," Jesse replied.

Jesse, who also has an Instagram account dedicated to her sports reporting, uses her Elise Jesse's Cookin' (@ejscookin) page to highlight her cooking and recipes for her more than 91,000 followers.

View this profile on Instagram

Watch Elise Jesse's full 'Today' show segment

If you missed Jesse's full cooking segment on the "Today" show, you can watch it on the show's website here. If you're interested in trying the football-focused dishes, you can find the full recipes on today.com.