Product Description

Before she attended the prestigious French cooking school École de Cuisine La Varenne, Virginia Willis had been shelling butterbeans alongside her mother and grandmother in her Georgia family kitchen ever since she could stand on a stool. These divergent influences inform her passionate homage to the cooking of the South. From simple starters and slaws to generous entrées and desserts, Willis makes down-home cooking refined and haute cuisine friendly, with recipes like Vidalia Onion Soup with Bacon Flan, Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Mama's Barbecue Sauce, and Hot Vanilla Soufflés with Vanilla Ice Cream. Brimming with stories, tips, techniques, and gorgeous photographs, BON APPÉTIT, Y'ALL seamlessly blends Willis's Southern and French roots into a memorable and thoroughly modern cookbook.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11066 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-15
• Released on: 2008-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781580088534
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
The playful title of this Southern-French cookbook belies its studious attitude to cookery. Willis, a chef who has cooked for the White House and stars like Aretha Franklin and Jane Fonda, grew up in Georgia and Louisiana, absorbing her mother's and grandmother's repertoire of grits, casseroles and gumbos before developing her professional skills at French cooking academies. The result is a hybrid cuisine she calls refined Southern, which applies traditional French technique and lighter ingredients to produce new versions of Southern staples. Her collard greens are cooked up with smoked salt instead of hog jowl; her cornbread is dressed with panko. Sprinkled liberally throughout are the Southern ingredients that Willis was raised on: Vidalia onions, okra, Georgia pecans and peaches. Willis's approach is faithful, yet she's unafraid to reinvent culinary clichés when necessary—like making pimiento cheese from scratch. Some of her creations—like a tipsy salad, riffing on the frat boy combo of watermelon and vodka; Yukon Gold and Edamame Mash; and Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs—elevate mundane flavors with sheer ingenuity. Magnificent color photos; detailed, helpful tips; and Willis's cheerful, trustworthy guidance make this an original and welcome newcomer to a classic cookbook library. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Although Willis has trained in France’s finest kitchens, her heart dwells nostalgically in her deep roots in America’s South. Her grandmother and mother, both adventuresome cooks, were skilled at whipping up southern classic dishes as well as reproducing dishes shown each week on Julia Child’s television series. Willis takes pains to treat the whole of this tradition respectfully. Thus, she presents quintessentially southern cheese straws (interestingly enough, baked by her grandfather) next to similar, yet thoroughly French, gougères. Fried chicken takes its customary top spot among the poultry recipes, but there are many less-caloric propositions for dealing with one of the South’s favorite meats. Shellfish dominate seafood offerings, and both Cajun and Creole traditions appear. Southern baking wouldn’t exist without biscuits, and Willis presents clear instructions for making both yeast and baking-powder versions. To crown these biscuits, Willis has recipes for both jams and jellies. --Mark Knoblauch

Review
"Bourbon Sweet Potatoes, Mama's Orange Glazed Cornish Game Hens, and Brown-Sugar Shortcakes are only a few of the appealing dishes to make you swoon." -- Ladies' Home Journal "Cookbooks We Love" Feature

"Simple, great ingredients are the hallmark of this book, whose recipes display a great flair for techniques that are Southern and European. The food becomes timeless and borderless. . . . It's Southern, sure, but with a refreshing twist." -- Raleigh News & Observer

"Gorgeously photographed and filled with warm notes about recipes learned from her mother, grandparents, and friends, it seems designed as an ideal Mother's Day gift." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"The author of this wonderful book Virginia Willis has put together the food of her native Georgia and her classical French techniques to create this really pretty book. I love it. I love the photographs. I love the writing in it. It's really, really nice." -- Martha Stewart, The Martha Stewart Show, May 7, 2008

Customer Reviews

A must have Southern Cookbook!
I have been waiting for this cookbook to come out and read it cover to cover once I received it. Virgina Willis has included the best Southern recipes from her family which means she put her heart and soul into this. I just took the pimento cheese stuffed into tomatoes to a family party and the plate was wiped clean. Her stories are priceless and I felt like I was in the kitchen with her family. I have attended her classes and enjoy her french style mixed with her Southern hospitality. This is a must have essential cookbook to great home cooking.

Advice for men or women who don't cook, who live with someone who does...
If you don't cook, but live with someone who does, I highly recommend you buy this book and just leave it on the table. In less than 24 hours I was offered an incredible cobbler. All I had to do was provide vanilla ice cream.
It is a beautiful book which I am enjoying reading and looking through. Virginia's voice is strong and clear as I read and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for the crust of that cobbler. I look forward to already promised biscuits and hopefully many many other kitchen events. "Yes Honey, I will go get real butter." Can you believe it, delicious cobbler in less than 24 hours! Buy this book now and just put it on the table. If he or she loves you, you might get cobbler too.

Kitchen Staple
I have studied Southern food for years, yet I've never found another book like this one. Each page enlightens cooks of all skill levels. The recipes are written meticulously well while Virginia's beautiful writing brings back memories of times gone by. Ms. Willis has written about Southern food the way it should be - honest. My copy has a permanent home right in my kitchen.