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
Holiday Cookies
Cookies are synonymous with the holidays. There are cookies for Santa, cookie swaps at school or work, cookies and cider after church on Sunday, and
Turkey 101: Thanksgiving Tips and Techniques
Turkey is the foundation of Thanksgiving dinner for many American families. And that comes with a heaping helping of stress — how long does a
Soup Swap: Three Quick and Easy Soup Recipes
It’s a cold, grey and rainy fall evening at the end of a very long day, and you’re on your way home from work in
Weeknight Supper: Healthy Hunter’s Style Chicken with Mushrooms
This satisfying, comforting recipe for Hunter’s-Style Chicken with Mushrooms has roots in both Italian and French cuisine as Pollo a la Cacciatora and Poulet au Chasseur.
APPLE RECIPES! Slab Apple Pie with a Cheddar Crust, Oat Pecan Apple Crisp, & Pork with Apples
Even though peaches are considered the quintessential Southern fruit, the phrase “as American as apple pie” applies to the South, too. Every weekend during the
Homemade and Healthy Oven Roasted Sloppy Joes
One Pot Wonder Weeknight Family Supper Who doesn’t like Sloppy Joes? They are pretty much the absolute best of a juicy hamburger and barbecue sandwich
Weeknight Supper: Smoky Shrimp Etoufee
A healthy shrimp recipe ready in only 30 minutes! Shrimp have a season. We’ll get to that quick and easy weeknight recipe in just a
Korean-Style Pork Ribs in the Oven
Ah, late summer. It’s still high barbecue and grilling season. This means pork butts slowly smoking on a kamado cooker; burgers, brats, and chops sizzling
Putting Up: Easy Pickles and Preserves
Visions of exploding jars, glass shards littering the pantry like a war zone, and thoughts of relatives keeling over from botulism prevent most of us
Chill Out: Three Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts
Easy Homemade Popsicles, Ice Cream, and Sorbet Frozen treats beat the heat! Did you know that centuries ago, ice was hauled down from the mountains