Bon Appetit, Y'all
by Virginia Willis
Ten Speed Press, 2008
$32.50, cloth
312 pages
The best kind of cookbooks reflect the author's passion and personality. They are the most fun to read, almost like spending time with the cook in their kitchen, and often have the best recipes-personal creations or finds that you are pleased to add to your own repertoire.
In Bon Appetit, Y'all, Virginia Willis has created a happy mix of her kitchen experiences-the home cooking of the American South, refined with French technique, and presented with the style of Martha Stuart Living, where Willis worked as a kitchen manager.
She cooks in that happy place between Boeuf Bourguignonne and Country Captain Chicken. On a single page you'll find recipes for Meme's Fried Fatback and Pork Chops with Dried Plums. Squash comes baked with pecans or elegantly pureed with a pinch of nutmeg, sage, and heavy cream. And desserts range from French Butter Cookies to Pound Cake, from Georgia Peach Soufflés to Sabayon with Seasonal Berries.
To have this kind of flavor and versatility at your fingertips makes being in the kitchen a real pleasure. With friendly and informative headnotes and sensible recipe directions, Willis is a delightful cooking companion, quick to share secrets and admit biases.
She owns up to being a bit snobby after culinary school about her family's home cooking, but has come to appreciate those traditions, in recipes like Mama's Mayonnaise Biscuits. Perhaps no self-respecting chef would make biscuits with store-bought mayonnaise, but a mother trying to get hot bread on the table for dinner will love this quick and slightly sweet dinner roll recipe.
What a homey supper they make along with Deviled Eggs, whose secret ingredient a dab of butter in the mustardy mashed egg yolks, and a bowl of Zesty Green Bean Salad flavored with mint and grape tomatoes.
Willis's French training comes across gently in sidebars and notes for the small extra steps like blanching vegetables or clarifying butter, that can quietly elevate a dish to something special. Though most of her recipes are southern classics, from Jambalaya to Country-Fried Venison Steak, every once in while she'll toss in a recipe like Celeriac Slaw or Arugala with Roasted Pears and Goat Cheese that clearly speak French, though maybe with a Southern accent.
Willis devotes four pages to soufflés, not something you'd find in the average home-cooking collection. But her complete and directions demystify this intimidating technique. She tells you how to choose a soufflé casserole, based on how many eggs you're using, how to prepare the casserole, and the exact texture you're looking for in the beaten egg whites. Her recipe for cheese soufflé, is a classic French preparation, fragrant with fresh herbs, and for the first-timers in our kitchen, a gratifyingly pouffy result.
Willis covers all bases in chapters on Gospel Birds and Game Birds; Grits, Rice, Pasta and Potatoes; Soups and Stews-all the elements of a generous table, from Starters and Nibbles to Jams, Jellies, and Preserves.
Willis is a skilled and creative cook who can translate techniques and elevate classics from two cultures to create a personal kitchen style.
© 2008 Claudia Kousoulas
