Husband-and-wife food bloggers and podcasters Sonja and Alex Overhiser have a new cookbook that uses a simple step to keep the kitchen a less heated place for two chefs: clear, alternating roles.
“A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together” lays out ingredients and directions for a wide array of dishes, like any other cookbook, but also divides the cooking tasks — one home chef is designated a square, the other a triangle — so neither is overwhelmed or resentful.
“Everything is more fun together, we think. And so we found that about cooking,” says Sonja Overhiser from their home in Indianapolis.
So to make their Meatballs with Fire-Roasted Marinara, one chef preheats the oven and then starts to make the marinara sauce, while the other prepares the meatballs. They come together at the end to coat the cooked meatballs with the sauce and add Parmesan cheese and basil.
“We’re hoping to break down that factor where people are intimidated by being in the kitchen, where all they want to do is wash dishes because they’re afraid they’re going to burn something,” says Alex Overhiser.
The Overhisers — known online as A Couple Cooks — use this formula throughout their new cookbook, which mixes a few fan favorites with new spins on dishes. But they intend their division of labor to be a suggestion.
“You can always change it up,” says Sonja. “It’s really just kind of an idea of the way that the dance can be performed. There are many other interpretations of that.”
“A Couple Cooks” leans on the pair's extensive work as recipe developers and food explorers. There are sections on everyday dinners, romantic ones, breakfasts, large gatherings, sides, sweets, appetizers and snacks, bakes and drinks.
“We wanted to encapsulate all of those different occasions, whether it’s a date night, whether it’s having a dinner party, whether it’s having a snack and a drink at the end of a long day, whether it’s baking something fun together on the weekend,” says Sonja.
The college sweethearts — she is a classically trained musician and journalist; he is a photographer — have been cooking together since 2008, steadily building their repertoire. At the beginning, they were eating frozen food, spaghetti and Hot Pockets.
Their first book, “Pretty Simple Cooking,” was named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious and one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018 by Mind Body Green.
Their new one is for two cooks, but any kind of two — parent and child, grandparent with grandkid, college roommates, newlyweds or even a neat date idea. The idea is to take the stress out and enjoy partnerships.
“You really can use food as a bonding moment,” says Sonja.
The dishes include tastes from Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Thailand, among others. Ingredients are easy to find and swaps are offered for gluten-free or vegan eaters. Wine pairings are suggested, courtesy of Alex’s knowledge.
One dish they are obsessed with is pizza, having honeymooned in Italy and fallen in love with artisanal versions. When they came home, they wanted to recreate it and say a homemade option is the perfect date dish for two.
Their no-cook sauce uses crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, olive oil, grated garlic, salt and oregano. Toppings include mozzarella, red onion, pepperoncini and pecorino Romano.
The Overhisers have a knack for using flavors in unexpected ways, like their banana baked oatmeal that has a maple drizzle with tahini.
“Tahini adds this really kind of nutty intensity to that maple drizzle on top. It’s something we tried once and we’re like, ‘Wow, this tastes incredible,’” says Sonja. “Just kind of adding a surprising element to a recipe makes it so much more fun to eat when it’s unexpected for your palate.”
Or take their vegan risotto, which adds a miso-rosemary broth to asparagus, peas and pine nuts. The couple say they put their heads together to try to make a romantic vegan meal, not an easy task since so many have dairy or meat.
“It's like how do we get to make this where you don’t say, ‘Oh, I miss my chicken broth,’” says Alex. (“And my Parmesan,” adds Sonja.) “That miso-rosemary broth, you can just drink it alone as a delicious soup it’s so good. And it adds this complexity to the broth, which when you mix it to the rice for your risotto, it’s just outstanding.”
They say they've been trained to look out for the user and make things easy for the home cook to understand and organize. That has now extended to the kitchen ballet of two cooks.
“We think our flavors are there and exciting, but we’re also really always thinking about how is someone actually executing this in their kitchen,” says Sonja.
Try the recipe below from “A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together.”
Serves: 4
1. (First cook) Allow the salmon to come to room temperature. Season the fillets with the kosher salt and plenty of black pepper. Spread the flour on a plate and dredge each fillet until lightly coated with flour on all sides.
2. (Second cook) In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and the olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the salmon, skin side up. Cook until the bottom is browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook skin side down until browned, 1 to 2 minutes — watch to make sure the flour doesn’t burn. Transfer the salmon to a plate and turn down the heat to low.
3. (Both cooks) Add another tablespoon of the butter to the same pan; when it melts, add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until transparent and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and the vegetable broth, lemon juice and zest, and capers, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
4. (Both cooks)Add the salmon to the pan, skin side down. Bring to a simmer and cook, occasionally spooning the sauce over the fish, until the fish is fully cooked, about 5 minutes. For a medium salmon, cook until the internal temperature reaches at least 130°F (55°C) when measured with a food thermometer at the thickest point.
5. (Both cooks) To serve, garnish the salmon with lemon wheels and chopped parsley. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of sauce over each fillet and serve.
Make chicken piccata using the same method: Use two boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4 cutlets (about 1½ pounds or 680 grams). Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. If using breasts, slice them in half horizontally (if you bought cutlets, skip this step). Then follow the steps in this recipe, using 1 teaspoon kosher salt to season the chicken.
A food thermometer is the best way to measure the internal temperature of fish. The temperature of 130°F (55°C) makes for moist, tender salmon. Feel free to cook up to 140°F (60°C) if you prefer a more well-done piece of fish.
Wine pairing: Pair this dish with a pinot noir. This red wine is known for its bright acidity, medium body, and fruity flavors, making it a perfect companion for the rich and flavorful salmon dish. We love the light and bright flavor of a pinot noir from Oregon.
Cooking together: Assign the fish prep to one of you! That person can season and dredge the fish while the other prepares the remaining ingredients.
For gluten-free: Omit the flour, or use gluten-free flour.
For dairy-free: Use vegan butter.
Storage: Leftover salmon will keep, refrigerated, for up to 3 days.
Excerpted from “A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together” by Sonja Overhiser and Alex Overhiser, (copyright) 2024. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs copyright Shelly Westerhausen Worcel.
