I think Ruhlman's Twenty is a great resource for the kind of thing you're looking for. "All cooking comes down not to recipes but rather to techniques. In Ruhl

I think Ruhlman's Twenty is a great resource for the kind of thing you're looking for. "All cooking comes down not to recipes but rather to techniques. In Ruhlman’s Twenty, cook, writer, and food authority Michael Ruhlman distills all of cooking into 20 fundamental techniques, illustrated with 100 recipes, and hundreds of instructive photos" http://www.amazon.com/Ruhlmans-Twenty-Techniques-Recipes-Manifesto/dp/0811876438 http://www.amazon.com/Ruhlmans-Twenty-Techniques-Recipes-Man...