Cookbook giveaway – Twelve Recipes

Twelve RecipesCal Peternell, chef of legendary San Francisco restaurant Chez Panisse, has always cooked for his family. However, when his oldest son was leaving for college, Peternell realized that while he prepared delicious meals for his family, he never taught them how to do it for themselves. This inspired him to not only teach his son how to cook, but also to write a cookbook, Twelve Recipes. You can learn more about Peternell’s philosophy on home cooking in our author interview.

We’re delighted to offer 10 copies of Twelve Recipes to EYB Members. Click on the contest below to view all entry options. One of the options is to answer the following question in the comments below:

What basic cooking technique do think people should learn first?

Please note that you must enter the comment after signing into Rafflecopter or your entry won’t be counted. The contest ends December 5, 2014.


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95 Comments

  • raechef1  on  November 7, 2014

    Sauteeing!

  • Kerrey  on  November 7, 2014

    Oven roasting. It's hard to mess up, and the results are always good.

  • Titch  on  November 7, 2014

    How to boil an egg

  • sarahawker  on  November 7, 2014

    Making a Roux!

  • jammydodger  on  November 7, 2014

    Making soups and stews.

  • mskonieczny  on  November 7, 2014

    How to cook pasta ๐Ÿ™‚

  • wester  on  November 7, 2014

    Making a salad – washing and drying (!) and cutting the vegetables and making a simple vinaigrette.

  • Bloominanglophile  on  November 7, 2014

    Not a "cooking" technique per se but tied to it–how to shop for food. Knowing growing seasons, where to source your food, and using your senses to help identify quality ingredients is crucial, IMHO. Start with great ingredients, and you're more than halfway there to a great meal!

  • lavenderashgrove  on  November 7, 2014

    How to saute.

  • sipa  on  November 7, 2014

    Children should learn what good food is before they even attempt to be taught how to cook. After that I think baking is always a great to learn at a young age because of the reward factor. Learn to bake and you can always have a treat.

  • sir_ken_g  on  November 7, 2014

    Braising

  • ldtrieb  on  November 7, 2014

    Soup, beautiful soup.

  • GillB  on  November 7, 2014

    White sauce (Roux method)

  • camtncook  on  November 7, 2014

    Cook an egg in multiple ways…

  • BlytheSpirit  on  November 7, 2014

    how to cook eggs

  • jenniesb  on  November 7, 2014

    I always wish I had been properly trained in knife skills.

  • genericgenre  on  November 7, 2014

    How to boil water.

  • fjain  on  November 7, 2014

    Knife skills come first on my list.

  • Zosia  on  November 7, 2014

    Sauteing

  • ravensfan  on  November 7, 2014

    How to cut and chop

  • bogie  on  November 7, 2014

    Dicing and sauteing.

  • bching  on  November 7, 2014

    Using the oven–you can roast a whole meal and as the oven cools, accomplish some tasks for upcoming meals–toasting nuts or breadcrumbs, for example.

    Tamar Adler's the Everlasting Meal is wonderful on this topioc.

  • jaelsne  on  November 7, 2014

    I think that a roast chicken is a great basic skill to have in your repertoire, because the leftover chicken can be used for many meals.

  • sgump  on  November 7, 2014

    Knife skills

  • Queezle_Sister  on  November 7, 2014

    tasting your food as it cooks, ok that's not a technique, so maybe I should say sautée – as in onions and garlic.

  • BarbW  on  November 7, 2014

    I think to sauté. It can be harder than it looks, & I'm not so sure I've mastered it, after all this time.

  • ae.bell  on  November 7, 2014

    I agree with knife skills

  • Analyze  on  November 7, 2014

    Learn when and why to follow a recipe.

  • dbielick  on  November 7, 2014

    knife skills

  • RNJessicaK  on  November 8, 2014

    Knife skills for sure. They're needed no matter what you like to cook!!

  • pwsnook  on  November 8, 2014

    How to boil water.

  • kayanelson  on  November 8, 2014

    Make an omelet. Can vary the mix-ins and have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Plus eggs are relatively cheap.

  • priyamaine  on  November 8, 2014

    Sauteeing!

  • pgarcia  on  November 8, 2014

    Reading a recipe all the way through before beginning to cook.

  • Sharylmk1  on  November 8, 2014

    Learning how to follow a recipe

  • finnsmom64  on  November 8, 2014

    Without a doubt an omelet. Everyone has eggs in the frig along with odds and ends and voila dinner.

  • TrishaCP  on  November 9, 2014

    Knife skills.

  • ballen  on  November 9, 2014

    Starting with the best and freshest ingredients.

  • jaburg  on  November 9, 2014

    How to boil an egg.

  • vinochic  on  November 9, 2014

    Another vote for knife skills.

  • jennyatkinson  on  November 9, 2014

    Reading through the recipe and good mis en place

  • karenemills  on  November 10, 2014

    How to roast meats and vegetables. If I had known this in college, I would have eaten much healthier, learned creative uses for leftovers and wouldn't have gained the freshman 15!

  • decklededges  on  November 10, 2014

    Knife skills

  • hillsboroks  on  November 10, 2014

    I taught my kids to make scrambled eggs first. Young folks can survive on scrambled eggs for quite a bit of the time on their own.

  • ciliatanchun  on  November 10, 2014

    Frying

  • tjnelson1hotmail  on  November 10, 2014

    How to boil water….with salt, to a roiling boil, how to make sure it is hot enough. (Reminds me of a cooking class called how to boil water which taught the basics.) Then go on to simple recipes which focus on techniques.

  • sharifah  on  November 11, 2014

    how to deal with eggs – scrambled, fried, omelette, etc

  • slimmer  on  November 12, 2014

    My first thought was knife skills. I can't believe how much easier things got once I learned how to cut.

  • kimtrev  on  November 12, 2014

    How to follow directions. Once you know how to do that, you can follow any recipe and learn to make virtually anything.

  • kidzcook  on  November 13, 2014

    How to cook eggs

  • kidzcook  on  November 13, 2014

    How to cook eggs

  • homeeccentric  on  November 13, 2014

    Knife Skills

  • reno2014  on  November 13, 2014

    How ingredients react to each other when combined in a recipe. I would bake when left alone in the house when I was a lot younger. Thought I was pretty clever until I had a few mishaps, by substituting ingredients in recipes for things that weren't on hand. Laugh Out Very Loud

  • Julia  on  November 13, 2014

    I think knife skills are a good first technique to master.

  • bhasenstab  on  November 13, 2014

    I'd get micro and say poaching an egg, as just as about everything tastes better with a soft-cooked egg on top of it.

  • adukeman  on  November 13, 2014

    Knife skills–Chopping, dicing, mincing

  • Nancith  on  November 13, 2014

    making a white sauce

  • lovelily1001  on  November 13, 2014

    i really like idea of teaching egg cooking, and the knife skills. maybe mise en place should come between the two of them. but eggs lead to so much.

  • Grywhp  on  November 13, 2014

    Patience

  • calmond79  on  November 13, 2014

    How to chop and cut! And…maybe making some basic eggs!

  • JanScholl  on  November 13, 2014

    I have seen more people turn rice and pasta into paste than I care to admit. it should be so easy, but for some, not so much.

  • SLane  on  November 14, 2014

    Understanding cooking terminology is important.

  • chawkins  on  November 14, 2014

    Start with knife skill.

  • hihelen_westbrook  on  November 14, 2014

    I learned to make cakes as soon as I was tall enough to see over my little red plastic kiddie table. It made cooking into something fun of which I wanted to do more and more.

  • RickPearson54  on  November 14, 2014

    Dicing an onion.

  • nicolthepickle  on  November 14, 2014

    I think knife skills. I don't really know how and I'd like to.

  • infotrop  on  November 14, 2014

    I was going to say how to saute, but now I agree with knife skills. That has to come first.

  • weetzie188  on  November 15, 2014

    stir frys

  • trudys_person  on  November 15, 2014

    Sauteing, and simmering …

  • lucycury  on  November 16, 2014

    How to cut and chop

  • toffee  on  November 17, 2014

    Roasting a chicken

  • rahiscock  on  November 18, 2014

    Roasting anything; you can apply the technique to meat and vegies, and it builds confidence in using an oven, which acts as a springboard towards baking

  • kalex426  on  November 19, 2014

    How to sauté

  • stitchan  on  November 19, 2014

    To boil egg in desired doneness. This Is an essential skill for me because I eat them everyday.

  • contest718  on  November 20, 2014

    people should learn how to properly boil eggs for hard and soft shell dishes.

  • Missanne  on  November 20, 2014

    Definitely how to use all sorts of knives. This not only saves your fingers for all future tasks; it draws your attention to how that one ingredient fits into the whole process.

  • dbcurrie  on  November 22, 2014

    Proper use of a knife. There aren't a whole lot of recipes where you don't need a knife for something.

  • t.t  on  November 25, 2014

    knife skills

  • Gorge_us  on  November 25, 2014

    How to season properly without overseasoning.

  • lkl  on  November 25, 2014

    How and why to use salt.

  • Julimorr  on  November 25, 2014

    Knife skills

  • Sasvif  on  November 25, 2014

    Making soup.

  • bvgardner  on  November 25, 2014

    Knife skills

  • aargle  on  November 25, 2014

    Definitely knife skills.

  • chikadulce  on  November 26, 2014

    I agree, knife skills are so important….along with sharp knives!

  • kellyscookbooks  on  November 26, 2014

    seasoning and knife skills

  • mfl  on  November 26, 2014

    mayonnaise, so easy!

  • zubs1990  on  November 27, 2014

    I would have to say roasting a chicken. It's a basic skill that everyone should know.

  • chach  on  November 27, 2014

    breaking eggs

  • sallyjoy  on  December 3, 2014

    How to use up what is available in the fridge – starting with a basic stirfry and moving on to more complex dishes and sauces.

  • JessieBsMom  on  December 5, 2014

    The different ways to cook eggs

  • angelanorr  on  December 5, 2014

    Roux

  • patsylu  on  December 5, 2014

    Knife skiills

  • Ayun  on  December 5, 2014

    Stirfy

  • mombaker247  on  December 6, 2014

    knowing where your food comes from and eating only humanely treated animals and learning to use the whole food and to compost and have zero waste

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