Blog / Vegetarian & Vegan

Mic Drop: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Caramel Balls

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Mic Drop: Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Caramel Balls

The only good thing Verizon has ever done for me was sending me an ex-chef to fix my internet. When Jay, the ex-chef technician, told me he was making these Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Caramel Balls for Thanksgiving, I knew I had to as well. Here’s the recipe…(drops the microphone).

The Gift of Pie and Other False Economies

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - The Gift of Pie and Other False Economies

Write on the blackboard 1,000 times: Food Gifts Do No Save You Money. Drill it into your head and give up this crazy notion. Labor + ingredients + packaging + delivery all come with a dollar value. My mom and I discovered this false economy the year she decided to sponsor a Save-the-Children child instead of giving people Christmas gifts. She made them a little something, including her famous Cheese, Onion, and Tomato Pies. Don’t bake this pie as a gift; give a copy of The Vegetarian Epicure (Random House) from whence the recipe comes as a gift, perhaps with a pound of cheese to put in it.

My Potato Salad Never Weeps, But I Do.

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - My Potato Salad Never Weeps, But I Do.

I call my Southern-style potato salad, confetti because it’s colorful and tastes like a parade is happening in my mouth! My taste buds are like little cheerleaders marching, screaming with delight and doing cartwheels with every bite! There’s something about the combo of potato chunks, mayo, American mustard, sweet relish and hard boiled eggs that comforts me and makes me feel cozy and loved. Plus, you get a good dose of veggies, so it must be healthy-ish.

The 4th of July screams potato salad, but did I make it this year? No. My host and co-party chair made German potato salad for our Independence Day 2015 barbecue. I shelved this recipe until our Labor Day “End Of Summer” celebration. We threw a small shindig for eighty guests. We had so many people we made two different potato salads because we could!

I’ll admit I felt a twinge of sadness as I prepped this salad.

Sexy + Hummus: Who’d Have Thunk It?

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Sexy + Hummus: Who’d Have Thunk It?

Is it lazier to use dried split chickpeas to make hummus so you don’t have to slip the skins off each whole chickpea? Or is having to soak and boil the split chickpeas considered more work? What if you have a pressure cooker?

Whatever method you use to get skinned chickpeas, do it. Your hummus becomes downright sexy when you do.

Wake Up and Eat Dessert: Pudim Molotov with Matcha Cream & Black Sesame Almonds

Jackie Gordon Singing Chef - Wake Up and Eat Dessert: Pudim Molotov with Matcha Cream & Black Sesame Almonds

“Stuff ‘em” is my usual stance when I invite guests over to a meal at my house. You will never leave hungry. You will be fed to the point of bursting. You may need to nap between the meal and the dessert. Lately, I’ve been easing up when it comes to dessert. When our guests woke up from their between-meal naps after the brunch Marlena Spieler and I whipped up this past Saturday, I served them this ethereal and light Pudim Molotov with Crème Anglaise, a Matcha (Green Tea) Cream and Caramelized Black Sesame Almonds. Oh, it’s gluten-free, to boot.