Nashville’s Cortney LaCorte is living up to the title of her new cookbook, “Oversharing.” Packed with 120 recipes, personal stories and plenty of TMI, the cookbook brings together LaCorte’s love of food, travel, hosting and, of course, a really good dirty martini. We caught up with her to talk about the inspiration behind “Oversharing,” the recipes she can’t stop making and a few of her favorite Nashville spots.
Why “Oversharing”?
Truly, I came into this world oversharing. The spirit of the cookbook is not just the delicious recipes, it’s the stories behind them. Random bits of TMI that absolutely nobody asked for, but I absolutely am going to tell you.
Where do you find inspiration for your recipes?
Chris and I love to travel, but we’re not the type of couple doing the museum tours. We’re doing the food tour, honey! Everything is built around the dinner reservation. I’m constantly inspired by the delicious food we eat while traveling and trying to bring a little bit of that back home.
Who inspired your love of hosting?
My mom is truly the original oversharer. Everything you see me do is because I watched my mom doing that growing up. She threw the most epic dinner parties, and she made people feel loved, cared for and special.
Do you have a favorite recipe from the cookbook?
That’s like asking me to pick a favorite child! All 120 recipes are delicious and fabulous, but maybe my most-made is the Cover Girl, my pantry pasta puttanesca. It comes together in less than 20 minutes using pantry ingredients, and it is so freaking good.
But now that the weather is cozy, the whole-bottle-of-cab braised pot roast with creamy mascarpone polenta is definitely a contender.
Any Nashville dishes that have inspired recipes?
Perrine has a fabulous breakfast croissant with scrambled eggs, Boursin and a mountain of chives. I essentially took that and made it into a fabulous brunch bake that’s perfect for hosting during the holidays.
Where are your favorite places to grocery shop in Nashville?
Number one is always going to be the farmers market because you can get everything local. Bloomsbury Farms has the best produce. I also love smaller specialty markets like Little Rad Market, Spread in Germantown and I’m really excited about the new Perrine grocer.
What’s growing in your garden right now?
I went from not being able to keep even a cactus alive to thriving in the garden! Tomatoes have probably been the most fun because they were so bountiful. I made pasta sauces, roasted tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, salsas and picos.
Now that it’s fall, we’ve turned everything over to garlic, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and carrots, although I heard carrots are finicky, so we’ll see.
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
I was a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, and I loved that job. “Signs overhead, lights on the floor, lead you to those exits.” I can still do it in my sleep!
Most important question: Where are you ordering a dirty martini in Nashville?
First and foremost, Sperry’s in Belle Meade. They’re the reason I fell in love with the dirty martini and really inspired the whole dirty martini journey. Bourbon Steak and Hall’s are great, too. I also want to shout out The Rose Pony. They have a killer martini on happy hour, and I love that it comes with a little sidecar on ice.
Where can people find “Oversharing”?
You can find “Oversharing” wherever books are sold. I cannot believe this baby landed on the New York Times bestseller list! Locally, it’s available at Parnassus Books, White’s Mercantile and other spots around town.
Dining and Cooking