Cookbook giveaway - Twelve Recipes

November 7, 2014·Darcie

Twelve Recipes Cal 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.

95 comments

sarahawkerNovember 7, 2014

Making a Roux!

KerreyNovember 7, 2014

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

mskoniecznyNovember 7, 2014

How to cook pasta :)

westerNovember 7, 2014

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

genericgenreNovember 7, 2014

How to boil water.

raechef1November 7, 2014

Sauteeing!

jammydodgerNovember 7, 2014

Making soups and stews.

TitchNovember 7, 2014

How to boil an egg

sipaNovember 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.

BloominanglophileNovember 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!

lavenderashgroveNovember 7, 2014

How to saute.

sir_ken_gNovember 7, 2014

Braising

ldtriebNovember 7, 2014

Soup, beautiful soup.

GillBNovember 7, 2014

White sauce (Roux method)

fjainNovember 7, 2014

Knife skills come first on my list.

ravensfanNovember 7, 2014

How to cut and chop

BlytheSpiritNovember 7, 2014

how to cook eggs

bchingNovember 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.

camtncookNovember 7, 2014

Cook an egg in multiple ways...

sgumpNovember 7, 2014

Knife skills

jaelsneNovember 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.

ZosiaNovember 7, 2014

Sauteing

jenniesbNovember 7, 2014

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

bogieNovember 7, 2014

Dicing and sauteing.

BarbWNovember 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.

Queezle_SisterNovember 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.

finnsmom64November 8, 2014

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

priyamaineNovember 8, 2014

Sauteeing!

AnalyzeNovember 7, 2014

Learn when and why to follow a recipe.

kayanelsonNovember 8, 2014

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

vinochicNovember 9, 2014

Another vote for knife skills.

pgarciaNovember 8, 2014

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

dbielickNovember 7, 2014

knife skills

Sharylmk1November 8, 2014

Learning how to follow a recipe

pwsnookNovember 8, 2014

How to boil water.

ballenNovember 9, 2014

Starting with the best and freshest ingredients.

jaburgNovember 9, 2014

How to boil an egg.

TrishaCPNovember 9, 2014

Knife skills.

ae.bellNovember 7, 2014

I agree with knife skills

RNJessicaKNovember 8, 2014

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

jennyatkinsonNovember 9, 2014

Reading through the recipe and good mis en place

karenemillsNovember 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!

decklededgesNovember 10, 2014

Knife skills

hillsboroksNovember 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.

ciliatanchunNovember 10, 2014

Frying

kimtrevNovember 12, 2014

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

kidzcookNovember 13, 2014

How to cook eggs

NancithNovember 13, 2014

making a white sauce

kidzcookNovember 13, 2014

How to cook eggs

JuliaNovember 13, 2014

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

bhasenstabNovember 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.

reno2014November 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

adukemanNovember 13, 2014

Knife skills--Chopping, dicing, mincing

homeeccentricNovember 13, 2014

Knife Skills

lovelily1001November 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.

tjnelson1hotmailNovember 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.

sharifahNovember 11, 2014

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

SLaneNovember 14, 2014

Understanding cooking terminology is important.

JanSchollNovember 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.

GrywhpNovember 13, 2014

Patience

calmond79November 13, 2014

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

slimmerNovember 12, 2014

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

dbcurrieNovember 22, 2014

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

chikadulceNovember 26, 2014

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

chawkinsNovember 14, 2014

Start with knife skill.

weetzie188November 15, 2014

stir frys

trudys_personNovember 15, 2014

Sauteing, and simmering ...

JulimorrNovember 25, 2014

Knife skills

hihelen_westbrookNovember 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.

MissanneNovember 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.

contest718November 20, 2014

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

toffeeNovember 17, 2014

Roasting a chicken

lklNovember 25, 2014

How and why to use salt.

infotropNovember 14, 2014

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

aargleNovember 25, 2014

Definitely knife skills.

SasvifNovember 25, 2014

Making soup.

nicolthepickleNovember 14, 2014

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

t.tNovember 25, 2014

knife skills

stitchanNovember 19, 2014

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

RickPearson54November 14, 2014

Dicing an onion.

mflNovember 26, 2014

mayonnaise, so easy!

Gorge_usNovember 25, 2014

How to season properly without overseasoning.

kalex426November 19, 2014

How to sauté

lucycuryNovember 16, 2014

How to cut and chop

zubs1990November 27, 2014

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

rahiscockNovember 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

bvgardnerNovember 25, 2014

Knife skills

kellyscookbooksNovember 26, 2014

seasoning and knife skills

angelanorrDecember 5, 2014

Roux

sallyjoyDecember 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.

patsyluDecember 5, 2014

Knife skiills

chachNovember 27, 2014

breaking eggs

AyunDecember 5, 2014

Stirfy

mombaker247December 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

JessieBsMomDecember 5, 2014

The different ways to cook eggs