Le Creuset presents Bon Appétit, Y’all, with Virginia Willis. Join popular chef and food writer Virginia Willis as she shares her simple-is-best philosophy with tips, techniques, recipes and her famous stories on the AmericasMart Culinary Stage. Her legion of fans love her knack for giving classic French dishes a down-home Southern feel and reimagining homey Southern favorites en Française.

She’ll prepare classic bouillabaisse from the South of France with the traditional accompaniments, the perfect dish for easy and elegant summer entertaining. It’s one pot cooking – in the finest pot – at its finest! And she’ll finish with a Lightened Up Summer Cobbler, proving that Southern food doesn’t have to be unhealthy to be good.  You’re guaranteed to enjoy the show!

Friday, July 13
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Le Creuset, Marseille and Virginia Willis Together in the Kitchen
Building 2 WestWing, Floor 8 Demonstration Kitchen
Book sale and signing of “Basic to Brilliant, Y’all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company” to follow.

 Lightened Up Blackberry Cobbler

Serves 8 to 10

Wild blackberries grow prolifically throughout the South. No matter how hot the sun, when picking the musky, sweet-sour fruit it’s always a good idea to wear long sleeves and

MMM! Delicious blackberry cobbler!

gloves. Huge brambles with thick canes like barbed wire protect the berries. In the fall, we’d put on our armor, grab a few buckets, and walk toward the pond, where the blackberries grew. My sister and I ate at least one berry for every berry that went into the bucket. We’d return an hour or so later with smiles and blackened teeth and sit in the kitchen as Meme made this homey dessert. Farm-raised blackberries are much larger than wild ones, and may be used instead if you are not able to find yourself a briar patch. Other fruit may be substituted, including sliced peaches, raspberries, blueberries, plums, cherries, and apricots.

•  1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 3/4 cup 2% or low fat milk
• 1/3 cup agave syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups fresh blackberries
• Frozen Yogurt, for serving
• Mint, for garnish

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the butter and oil in a 9 x 13-inch ovenproof serving dish or 10 1/2-inch skillet and transfer to the preheated oven to heat, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the milk, agave syrup, and vanilla and stir to combine.
3. Remove the hot dish with the melted butter and oil from the oven. Add the butter oil mixture to the batter and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the hot pan. Spoon the blackberries evenly over the batter.
4. Return the pan to the oven and bake until brown and the batter has risen up and around the fruit, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool slightly. Serve immediately with frozen yogurt and garnish with fresh mint.

• Active time 15 minutes
• Total time 45 minutes

For a full list of events and seminars in July, visit AmericasMart.com