Welcome to Cooking with Virginia!
Here you will find delicious and doable, seasonal, chef-driven recipes for home cooks along with tips, techniques, and stories. Each post features mouth-watering food photography, easy-to-follow instructions, and helpful hints for well-tested recipes from Southern chef, Food Network Kitchen Instructor, and James Beard award-winning cookbook author Virginia Willis.
You’ll also find Virginia’s signature stories chronicling formational childhood experiences gained baking in her grandmother’s and mother’s kitchen, her extensive professional experience from working in patisserie in a Michelin-starred restaurant, to the hot lights of food television, and her culinary centric far-flung travels. The recipes build on this practical knowledge and are written so that the reader feels that Virginia is by their side in the kitchen, as she walks the reader through surefire recipes that work every time. The recipes are rigorously tested and are essential, foolproof dishes you actually want to make and eat!
Bon Appétit, Y’all!
Virginia Willis
Winter Salads: Think Outside the Arugula Box
Summer salads are easy. A couple of chops of straight-from-the-garden fresh vegetables and you’re good to go. Winter salads require slightly more thought, but it’s a
Secrets of the Southern Table TV Series
I am thrilled to announce I am partnering with public media powerhouse WGBH-TV for the development of “Secrets of the Southern Table™: A Food Lover’s Tour of
Cooking with Citrus: Spicy Chicken with Clementines
Earlier this week I was in the local co-op experiencing a bit of a conundrum regarding planning this week’s meals. After seemingly months of rich,
Happy New Year: Vegetarian Hoppin’ John
Eating black-eyed peas and rice in the form of a dish called Hoppin’ John and Stewed Greens on New Year’s Day is a Southern tradition. Folklore
Christmas Traditions: Old-Fashioned Yeast Rolls
Every family has at least one culinary Christmas tradition. In our family, at the top of the list of our Christmas traditions are Old-Fashioned Yeast
Holiday Cheer: Bourbon Apple Cider
The smells, sights, and colors of fall are brilliant, vibrant, and comforting. The long hot summer is finally at an end and we welcome the
Lesson Learned: Quick and Easy Pear Tart Recipe
Several weeks ago, my mentor and dear friend Nathalie Dupree and I hosted a cooking class fundraiser for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. We had
10 Reasons Cooks Have to Give Thanks
This Thanksgiving week I have been considering the abundant changes in my life and the many things for which I am thankful. I’ve traveled all
Living Well: Whole Grain Recipes
Several weeks ago I was asked by Dr.Oz’s website to do a 7-day Vegan challenge. I approached it with a plan of eating as many minimally
Eat Right for Your Sight on National Kale Day!
A year or so ago I helped edit a cookbook called Eat Right for Your Sight for the American Macular Degeneration Foundation. Macular Degeneration is the