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. And, given Virginia’s health journey and 65# weight loss, the recipes are not only good — they are good for you, too!
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
New Year’s Day Luck and Money: Peas & Greens
The peas are simmering on the stove top fogging up the windows with ham-scented steam. It’s cold out and rather than face the snow, I’m
Share this:
Make Ahead: Make it Easy for the Holidays
I’m smiling here, teaching at Stonewall Kitchen. What’s not to smile about? Really, nice people, an incredible kitchen, and I adore Maine. It’s a
Share this:
My Day in NYC on 9/11
This picture of my sister was taken a in August, just a few weeks before the tragedy. I’ve never written a word about 9-11, a
Share this:
My Feisty Sister, Green Beans, and The Best Birthday, Ever.
It’s my younger sister’s birthday this weekend and I am going home to see her and mama. Some of y’all may remember about mama moving
Share this:
Spicy Pork Shoulder: Recipe Testing for Basic to Brilliant, Y’all
My next cookbook, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all: Recipes and Recollections of a Southern Culinary Journey is the lead book for Ten Speed for Fall 2011.
Share this:
Happy Mother’s Day: Mama’s Poundcake
Anyone that speaks to me more than a couple of paragraphs essentially knows I love my Mama. I am a Mama’s girl through and through.
Share this:
Anne Willan & The LaVarenne Way
Anne Willan Thinking about my career, Nathalie Dupree took me out of my mama’s kitchen. She exposed me to things I had never heard
Share this:
Sweet Georgia Peaches: Pork Chops with Peach BBQ Sauce
Peach Country Central and South Georgia are well known for their peach crops in the summer and pecan harvests in the fall. I grew up
Share this:
Fried Chicken: A Love Story
Virginia and Meme – photo credit Terry Allen I’ve been cooking as a professional for a little over 15 years, but my passion actually started
