Bon Appetit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking

580 Pages·2008·10.33 MB·English

by  Virginia Willis

Copyright © 2008 by Virginia Willis
Photography © 2008 by Ellen Silverman
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with publisher.
eISBN: 978-1-60774-134-3
Cover and text design by Betsy Stromberg
Food styling by Virginia Willis
Prop styling by Angie Mosier
v3.1

CONTENTS
Foreword by Nathalie Dupree
Introduction
– Starters and Nibbles
CHAPTER 1
– Salads and Slaws
CHAPTER 2
– Eggs and Dairy
CHAPTER 3
– Pork, Beef, and Lamb
CHAPTER 4
– Gospel Birds and Game Birds
CHAPTER 5
– Fish and Shellfish
CHAPTER 6
– Grits, Rice, Pasta, and Potatoes
CHAPTER 7
– Vegetables
CHAPTER 8
– Biscuits, Rolls, and Breads
CHAPTER 9
– Soups and Stews
CHAPTER 10
– Desserts
CHAPTER 11
– Sauces, Condiments, Jams, Jellies, and Preserves
CHAPTER 12
Sources
Acknowledgments
Index

FOREWORD
I write about Virginia Willis and her new book with pride. Not because I had a
hand in the book, but because I was one of Virginia’s first teachers. She came to
me one day while I was taping one of my cooking shows and asked to apprentice
on her days off. I almost said no. But Virginia is determined, passionate about
food, and gifted, and she packed every minute with learning—as she has
continued to do throughout the fifteen years we’ve been cooking together.
Since that beginning, Virginia has worked with some of the top names in the
food world, from Anne Willan to Martha Stewart. She has had the great gift of
allowing herself to be influenced by many brilliant cooks, both French and
American. And she has done what every teacher wants of a student—she
exceeded my capabilities. (I’m afraid she won’t brag on herself, so I must.) This
book reflects Virginia’s quintessential Southernness. In the South, the first thing
one is asked is, “Who are your people?” She has always claimed her people, her
mother and grandmother among them, through her food. You are going to share
those people through this book—they will become your own. You will find a
cake recipe here, a cheese straw there, that will make you sigh and say, “Oh, if I
could only eat that right now,” propelling you to the kitchen. In these pages you
will receive only the very best, to read, to savor, and to cook.
Nathalie Dupree
Meme’s recipe book