NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Many years into their marriage, Stephen and Evie Colbert suddenly became co-workers. And that is why, in a roundabout way, we have their first cookbook.
During the pandemic, Evie helped keep her husband's on the air at CBS while the couple hunkered down in their South Carolina home.
鈥淓vie was my crew and my only audience and my only guest. And it turned out we worked together well,鈥� Stephen Colbert says. 鈥淲e said, 鈥榃e鈥檝e always wanted to do something together. I think the thing to do would be a cookbook.'鈥�
What emerged is a collection of tried-and-true Colbert clan dishes like Spicy Lemon Chicken Thighs or Panfried Spot Tail Bass that also opens a window into their lives.
鈥淚t had to be a personal story because we鈥檙e not professional cooks. It鈥檚 all about our personal experience,鈥� says Stephen Colbert.
The dishes range from a simple teriyaki-flavored pork loin 鈥� good for busy parents on a weekday for dinner 鈥� to an extravagant Beef Wellington, a fillet steak with mushrooms and prosciutto, wrapped in puff pastry, then baked.
It is a cookbook that also charts a love affair, celebrates extended family and rejoices over places visited 鈥� idiosyncratic and yet universal. There are four different recipes for fudge 鈥� each boasts it is the definitive one 鈥� submitted by the Colbert siblings.
A trip to a San Francisco restaurant in late 2007 inspired the recipe in the book for a clam chowder that is brothy, vegetable-forward and has plenty of clam meat.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know if the soup was as good as I remember it. We were just young parents with a moment away and big frosty glasses of sancerre,鈥� says Stephen with a laugh. 鈥淓verything was tasting pretty good."
Friends and family were tapped for their favorite dishes, like deviled eggs from Evie's dad and chicken l'orange from Stephen's mom. There are also photos and stories of their three children.
鈥淔or Stephen's career, we purposefully kept our children out of the limelight, and when we sat down to do this, we realized, 鈥極h, we鈥檙e involving a lot of family. How do we feel about that?鈥� And it felt like a wonderful way to be personal,鈥� says Evie. 鈥淚t felt very much like a collective project that way.鈥�
Many of the dishes lean on the South, which is natural since both grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. There are Lowcountry recipes for pickled shrimp, pork belly sliders and , a dish Stephen says he enjoys making the most.
鈥淎t my little elementary school growing up, we had it just about every day. And it was fantastic. And this recipe comes closest to that really jammy, salty, smoky red rice I grew up with.鈥�
Going back even further is Stephen's Kindergarten Soup, which he learned to make helping the cook at Martin Luther Kindergarten. It calls for celery, carrot, onion, tomato, okra, corn, butter beans, green beans, peas and beef. The cookbook includes a photo of 5-year-old Stephen's drawn recipe.
鈥淚t is the first recipe I ever learned. And my mom did hang up that recipe in her kitchen and take it down and make it every so often,鈥� he says. He now laughs at its plainness, a yesteryear where it was 鈥渋ceberg lettuce and salt and pepper for flavor.鈥�
The Colberts have upped their sophistication levels since then, of course, including in the cookbook a recipe for duck breast with fig-orange sauce.
鈥淧eople are afraid of duck, but it is really, really simple. Start in a cold pan, render it out. Save that duck fat for the potatoes you鈥檙e going to want with this later. Throw in some fig jam or any jam in with a little orange juice. It鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� Stephen says.
Making the cookbook reconnected the couple to their roots. 鈥淚t put us back in touch with all the food we grew up with and the people who taught us how to make these recipes,鈥� says Evie, who still refers to recipes as receipts, the way her mother did.
One of her favorites is the flounder stuffed with crab meat that she grew up with. 鈥淚 was really happy to rediscover that recipe. It was one that I had sort of forgotten about. And when I worked on the cookbook with my mother, we talked about that recipe. And so we had to get her approval on when we made it.鈥�
Jokes Stephen: 鈥淪ome of these recipes had to be released from their national security designation.鈥�
The book ends with breakfast recipes. 鈥淚f the party goes well, hopefully you鈥檙e spending the night,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he breakfast is the reward.鈥�
While the pair clearly enjoy each other's company, things in the kitchen weren't always so smooth. They both point to the 鈥渟poon story.鈥�
When they were married in 1993, someone gave them a nonstick Calphalon pan. Evie hadn't grown up with non-stick cookware and used a metal spoon with it.
鈥淪o Stephen and I are married, and he walks into the kitchen one day and he says, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e using a metal spoon on a nonstick pan.鈥� I really thought he was going to say, 鈥業鈥檓 sorry, we have to get divorced,鈥欌�� Evie says.
鈥淚 believe I offered you a wooden spoon,鈥� says Stephen.
鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 go over well,鈥� she replies.
鈥淏oy, the look on her,鈥� he says, laughing. 鈥淪he鈥檚 almost over it. She鈥檚 so close to forgiving me.鈥�
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
