Chef Over Your Shoulder: Cooking Tips, Recipes & Kitchen Inspiration

Today, we are talking about potlucks. And I must confess that I’m the person who signs up for water the second a potluck spreadsheet goes live. Today, Jody and Kirstie are going to help me change that. Our chefs walk me through real life, low stress ideas for what to bring to potlucks, team parties, backyard barbecues, and those last minute “can you bring something to share” invitations. From entr...

Today, we are heading back out to sea because there was no way we could fit all things fish and seafood into one episode. Think of this episode as the sister conversation to our recent fish episode.  For me, seafood has usually been a ‘restaurant meal,’ but as usual, Jody and Kirstie have removed the intimidation factor, and now I’m ready to cook seafood in my own kitchen. Jody and Kirstie sh...

Today is a special episode. It is the first in a new ongoing series that takes you behind the scenes of Jody and Kirstie’s cookbook journey. They are taking hundreds of their original, much loved recipes from The Culinary Studio and turning them into a cookbook. In each episode, you will hear about the funny moments, the big wins, and the ways they work through challenges along the way. From Swiss...

On today’s episode, we are talking about quitting. Jody shares the story behind her viral “I Quit” post. She’s not quitting cooking altogether; instead, she’s quitting the role of default family cook and handing some of that responsibility over to her kids.  Jody shares what has actually happened now that her kids are in charge of making dinner. We get into the real side of it all, from burnt...

Today, we are tackling the episode that some of our listeners have specifically requested…how to cook fish. Now, before Jody and Kirstie walk me through pan-seared salmon, poached fish, and why a scorching hot pan is my new best friend, I have a brand new fail that I have been waiting to share with Jody and Kirstie. It involves maple syrup and a microwave. And Jody shares with us how she’s quit th...

Today, we are talking about Mexican food. And if you are anything like me, Mexican food at home pretty much means ground beef, packaged taco spice, and that yellow box of taco shells. Sound familiar? Well, today, Jody and Kirstie are taking us on a full culinary adventure, and we are reinventing Taco Tuesday for good. We talk about an easy, delicious homemade spice blend that replaces that dusty l...

Is your homemade stir-fry lacking that special something? Do your vegetables turn out soggy instead of crisp? In this episode, Jody, and Kirstie break down the science and the art of the perfect stir-fry.  Our chefs share an easy four-ingredient sauce that is infinitely better than anything you can buy in a bottle. We also discuss why you should not cook all your vegetables at the same time a...

Why does food always taste better late at night when you are standing at the kitchen counter?  In this episode of Chef Over Your Shoulder, Amy, Jody, and Kirstie share their favourite midnight snacks. They talk about why the perfect sandwich is truly the pinnacle of late night snacking, and Jody talks about the art of making the perfect peanut butter toast. If you are looking for something a...

Today we are talking turkey. We are sharing our turkey memories and stories and lots of turkey tips. For many of us we are getting into the holiday season and that often includes a full turkey dinner. It can be one of the biggest joys of the year or one of the biggest culinary challenges you face. Either way, everyone will find some turkey inspiration from what Kirstie calls Jody’s Turkey Manifest...

Jody and Kirstie’s Kitchen Gadget Essentials Are your kitchen drawers overflowing with tools you never use? Today is going to be a fun one because we are raiding our kitchen drawers. That is right. We are talking about kitchen gadgets and the tools that actually spark joy versus the ones that are just gathering dust. We discuss the absolute essentials that every home cook should own. Including a b...

Jody and Kirstie's Favourite Cookbooks! This week, we are talking about an obsession that some of us keep very close to our hearts, and our bedsides! We are talking about cookbooks. Are they just collections of cold, hard instructions, or are they something more? We think they are much more. They are diaries and travelogues, filled with kitchen inspiration and cooking tips. When you open a great c...

Jody and Kirstie’s Chicken Noodle Soup Recipes If you’re anything like us, you love Chicken Noodle Soup, especially on a dark, cold night. However, maybe you're like Amy, and the thought of making it from scratch gives you kitchen anxiety.  Over the years, she’s made watery broth, with a side of crunchy risotto, and even had an exploding tomato soup incident. Honestly, I’ve been intimidated b...

Jody and Kirstie’s Kitchen Tips, Recipes and Recommendations What’s In Your Pantry? This week, I open my pantry doors, giving Jody and Kirstie a full view of my spice chaos! They waste no time calling out my dusty, old seasonings—it turns out spices actually expire—and question why I own Cream of Tartar (spoiler: I thought it was for fish, not baking!).  We share some nostalgic stories after...

Jody and Kirstie’s Kitchen Tips, Recipes and Recommendations Welcome to Pots and Pans: The Essentials from Chef Over Your Shoulder ! Pairing professional Chefs Jody O'Malley and Kirstie Herbstreit with Amy Schlueter, a burn-to-the-bottom-of-the-pan expert, creates the perfect recipe to demystify the kitchen and bring back the joy of cooking and connecting…without the pressure.  On this week's...

Welcome to Chef Over Your Shoulder! Chef Over Your Shoulder is a podcast about the connections we make through cooking. Professional chefs Jody O'Malley and Kirstie Herbstreit team up with burn-to-the-bottom-of-the-pan expert Amy Schlueter to demystify the kitchen and bring back the joy of cooking and connecting...without the pressure. It’s not about becoming a gourmet chef. It’s about why food ma...