The Grown-Ups’ Table:

• “My husband and I just had our first child, a daughter, so I will slip From Father to Daughter into his stocking.” —Selina
• “I’m giving The Crabby Cook Cookbook to my mother, who no longer has to worry about cooking for a family but will get such a kick out of remembering what it was like to put dinner on the table every night … though she will be sorry that she didn’t have those simple recipes back then when she needed them. For all the hypochondriacs in my family (and that would be everyone on one side of the family, though I can’t say which)—The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick. I think our phone calls may get more interesting when they realize there are concrete steps they can take to reduce their susceptibility to illness.” —Suzie
• “My parents are getting copies of Younger Next Year and Younger Next Year for Women, since they’re both recently retired and I want them to stay healthy and happy.” —Randall
• “I got the Islands Page-a-Day Gallery Calendar for my mom, because she loves tropical beach scenes.” —Claudia
• “Last year I gave my father-in-law The Miniature Book of Miniature Golf, which brought Christmas morning to a complete halt for a good hour, because he and my husband just had to play through the whole book (they’re very competitive, so it got a little intense)… He brought it to work and it is a huge hit in his office too. 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die was a huge hit with MY dad, who is a serious music buff. (Brought that gift-opening session to a standstill as well, as he became totally engrossed in the book!!)” —Melody
• “My step-dad is getting the Nuns Having Fun Calendar—perfect for an ex-Catholic School Boy who loves the Three Stooges. And I’ll probably give my mom a copy of The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free, in hopes that she’ll send some tasty treats this year that are suitable for my glutard self.” —Emily
• “Anything golf-related goes over well with my old man.” —Tom
• “I’m giving a copy of Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies to my Aunt Betty. She’s an amazing baker, and the best part is that she always loads me up with baked goods whenever I see her (and my co-workers benefit because I bring them to the office).” —Laura
• “I’m going to give The Love That Dog Training Program to my mom, because she’s convinced that our old dog can’t learn new tricks.” —Avery
• “I got Cooking Jewish for my sister, who is constantly trying to expand her repertoire of Jewish recipes. Also, there’s a reason that Ad Hoc at Home comes wrapped in plastic. Do not open it! Or you will do what I did, which is decide that it was such a beautiful and enticing book, with such mouthwatering recipes, that, although my sister or father or best friend would have loved it, it was time I rewarded myself with a gift.” —Kathy

Hope that was helpful! And don’t forget to come back tomorrow morning for Part 3: Might-as-Well-Be-Family Friends.

• Cheese can be made from cow, sheep or goat’s milk.

• A cheese rind can be described as bloomed, washed or flavored.

• For a bloomed rind, mold spores are sprayed on cheeses, where they develop a soft white exterior (think Camembert).

• A washed rind indicates a cheese that has been bathed, often in wine or beer, facilitating the growth of beneficial bacteria. Washed-rind cheeses are typically very pungent, such as Taleggio.

• Cheeses may also be coated in ash or herbs to introduce different flavors.

Now that you know a little about what you’re eating, here are a few of Thomas Keller’s suggestions on how to pair your cheeses:

• Try a pungent cheese with something savory, such as prosciutto or salami.

• Sweet, creamy cheeses go well with some form of fruit – fresh, dried or cooked.  You can try pears, apples, grapes, apricots, peaches, tangerines, dates and raisins.

• Think about including a crunchy component with your cheeses. Toast, flatbread, or nuts (candied, herbed, toasted) all work.

If left to my own devices, every meal would be a string of snacks and finger food. But when I hear my cooking-centric friends rhapsodize over the amazing meals they concoct with ingredients I’ve never heard of, I wonder if I’m missing out.  So having only made a few basic dishes before (rice and beans), or been relegated to the “peeler and chopper” when assisting in the kitchen, I thought I’d try my hand at the Chicken Potpie recipe from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home cookbook. The cookbook’s recipes are described as “doable at home,” so that seemed like a step in the right direction.

Right off the bat I was relieved to note I had definitely heard of all the ingredients needed for the potpie, and as a bonus, I already possessed a few (milk, butter and carrots!). And those I didn’t have in my kitchen wouldn’t go to waste if there were leftovers (pearl onions and bay leaves).  After reading the recipe, it seemed pretty straightforward, even to my untrained eye. The only step I was really sweating was making the pie crust, which has always seemed particularly scary – Don’t overwork the dough! Make sure everything stays cold! It can’t be too dry! Or sticky!  I always thought it was a task best left to the professionals.  So after rereading the recipe about 6 times, I jumped in, and turns out, no, it isn’t that scary. The one oversight on my part was forgetting that I don’t actually own a rolling pin, which I imagine would be immensely helpful when trying to roll out dough. Turns out a wine bottle can pinch-hit if needed.

Once I had the dough situation under control, the rest was smooth-sailing, I chopped and simmered the vegetables, cooked up some béchamel sauce (perhaps whisking a little too obsessively, but there were no lumps!) and finally assembled the pie and popped it in the oven.  The result?  A dish I couldn’t believe I had created, and the first dish I felt the need to photograph – partly because I was so proud and partly because I knew no one would believe it came from my oven.  But most importantly, it was delicious.  Flaky crust? Check. Creamy, savory filling? Check.  Tender vegetables? Absolutely.

And now with my cooking confidence vastly improved, I’m already eyeing the Catalan beef stew recipe in the next chapter and thinking that it looks “doable at home.”

Chicken Potpie:

Filling:
1 cup 1/2 inch pieces red-skinned potatoes
1 1/4 cups 1/2 inch pieces carrots (cut on the diagonal)
12 white pearl onions
3 bay leaves
3 thyme sprigs
24 black peppercorns
1 1/4 cups 1/2-inch pieces celery (cut on the diagonal)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Béchamel:
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
Pinch of cayenne
1 egg, beaten

Roll out the dough (see below recipe), place one piece in a 9- or 10-in. pie plate and the second on a baking sheet, and refrigerate.

Put the potatoes, carrots, and onions in separate small saucepans with water to cover and add 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig, and 8 peppercorns to each pan. Bring to a simmer until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain the vegetables, discard the bay, thyme, and peppercorns, and spread on a baking sheet. Cut the onions in half.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. Blanch the celery until just tender-crisp, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Drain, transfer to the ice bath, and chill until just cold. Drain and add to the baking sheet with the other vegetables.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes; adjust the heat as needed so that the mixture does not brown. Whisk in the milk, lower the heat to keep the béchamel at a gentle simmer (use a diffuser, such as a Flame Tamer, if necessary), and cook, whisking often, until the sauce has thickened and reduced to about 2 cups, 30 to 40 minutes; move the whisk over the bottom and into the corners of the pan to be sure the béchamel doesn’t burn.

Position the oven racks in the lower third and center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375˚F.

Strain the béchamel through a fine-mesh conical strainer into a spouted measuring cup. Season with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, and cayenne.

Remove both doughs from the refrigerator.

Scatter the vegetables and chicken into the pie shell. Pour the béchamel over them. At this point, if the top crust is too hard to shape, let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes. Moisten the rim of the pie shell with some of the beaten egg. Cover the filling with the top crust and press the edges of the dough together to seal. Trim away the excess dough that overhangs the rim. Brush the top crust with the egg. Cut a small vent in the center of the dough with a small cutter or the tip of a paring knife to allow steam to escape.

Bake on the lower oven rack until the crust is a rich golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour.  If necessary, move the pie to the center rack during the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the crust. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 10 minutes.

Cut the potpie into 6 wedges and serve warm.

Basic Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for rolling
1 1/4 teaspoond kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
About 5 tablespoons ice water

The secret to a great pie is a great dough that bakes into a flaky, crispy crust. It’s not difficult—the key is to avoid overworking the dough. I prefer mixing the dough by hand, but you can use a mixer if you like. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that feeling comfortable making a pie dough is one of those essential skills any cook should have, and it’s another technique that gives you versatility in the kitchen. When you know how to make a good pie dough, you can use it for Chicken Potpie, Cherry Pie, a blueberry pie, a lemon tart, or a tarte tatin.

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl, then add the butter and toss to coat with flour. With your hands or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour, tossing and incorporating any pieces of butter that have settled at the bottom of the bowl, until the butter pieces are no larger than a pea. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the water over the top and, using a fork, mix the dough until it just holds together when pinched; add the remaining tablespoon of water if the dough is very dry. Knead the dough until it is completely smooth and the butter is incorporated.

Divide the dough in half, with one piece slightly larger then the other (the larger piece will be for the bottom crust). Shape each half into a 1-inch-thick disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or for up to a day. (If the dough does not rest, it will shrink as it bakes).

If the dough is too hard to roll, let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes or pound it a few times with a rolling pin. Lightly flour the work surface and a rolling pin. Lightly dust the top of the larger disk of dough with flour and roll it out to a 13- to 14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick: roll outward from the center, rotating the dough frequently and adding a little flour to the work surface or dough as needed to prevent sticking. Fold the dough in half and transfer to a 9- to 10-inch pie plate, gently easing the dough into the corners and up the sides.

Roll out the second piece of dough in the same manner, to a 12-inch round, about 1/8-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate both doughs for 15 minutes.

But this trend hasn’t spoken to me. While I like to cook, the notion of boiling a pot of glass jars on a hot August day (which is always when the veggies are ripe) makes me want to leave the kitchen and head to the air-conditioned movie theater instead.

And yet, Pickled Carrots called to me like little orange sirens from the pages of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home, the New York Times bestselling cookbook by the chef at The French Laundry. Despite its upscale restaurant origins, the book is all about home cooking, and includes a whole section of surprisingly unfussy recipes for jarred delicacies like sweet onion tapenade, fennel mustard, and fig and balsamic jam (which Keller uses to stuff a pork loin). And a platterful of bright and spicy vegetable pickles – carrots, cauliflower, green beans, and more.

What’s the appeal of Keller’s homemade pickled vegetables? First of all, there are about four ingredients in each of these recipes, and most of them are already in my kitchen cupboard. Second, there is no mention of boiling jars or fitting on those scary lids when they are blazing hot. (Instead, Keller asks you to stick the finished product in the fridge, and eat it up within a month – that I can do.) Third, these pickles are gorgeous to look at: jewel-toned carrots, tiny champagne grapes in curry…looking at the pictures in the book is like window-shopping at the ultimate gourmet store.

It never really occurred to me I could make pickles (let alone out of carrots). But it turns out I can, with remarkably little fuss. In approximately 28 minutes on a Sunday afternoon, start to finish, I made a collection of stunningly pretty Pickled Carrots – a yield large enough to serve with a cheese plate over Thanksgiving weekend and still have a couple jars left in the fridge to go along with sandwiches for the next week or two. (Like I said, eating within one month is not going to be a challenge.)

The most time-consuming part of this recipe was peeling the carrots. After cutting them into sticks, all I had to do was heat up some curry powder, and add Keller’s incredibly easy pickling liquid (good vinegar + water + sugar, stirred together in a measuring cup) and the carrots. After two minutes of simmering  – truly, two – I was standing those little carrot spears up in some jars and pouring the liquid over them. And trying not to burn my fingers by sampling too many while they were still hot. They are delicious – enough heat from the jalapeno to keep things interesting, and a bold flavor that doesn’t shout “curry.” And they are gorgeous to behold: bright orange and crisp after such a short time on the heat, and sparkling in their glass jars.

The sight of those jars of Pickled Carrots in my refrigerator makes me feel like a new-fangled, gourmet Laura Ingalls Wilder. This self-sufficiency thing, it turns out, can make one feel very smug indeed.

Page Edmunds, associate publisher at Workman Publishing, lives with her family near New York City. She is currently reading Spooner, by Pete Dexter (which is so brilliantly funny she’s been reading whole paragraphs aloud to her husband) and cooking from What Can I Bring? Cookbook (banana bread) and Barefoot Contessa at Home (butternut squash soup).

We’ve got five videos of Chef Thomas Keller sharing tips, tricks and inspiration from his newest book,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFhKYuGbNuY

We’ve got five videos of Chef Thomas Keller sharing tips, tricks and inspiration from his newest book,

Click here to view videos 1-3.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF5kGfMLUug

We’ve got five videos of Chef Thomas Keller sharing tips, tricks and inspiration from his newest book,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuyw4qeGF5Y

We’ve got five videos of Chef Thomas Keller sharing tips, tricks and inspiration from his newest book,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRBCIKgBfDY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX2GsXqndsw

Learn to:
Use salt properly: Salt enhances flavors already in a dish – if you can taste the salt, it’s too salty. Salt used for seasoning needs time to dissolve—salt steaks, chops and other smaller cuts 15 to 20 minutes before cooking, while larger cuts, like a chicken, should be salted 40 to 45 minutes before cooking.

Use vinegar as a seasoning device: Vinegar can be an important way to enhance the impact of a dish. It’s always worth considering whether a few drops of vinegar could be added to a soup, sauce, or braising liquid to make the flavors really jump out.

Roast a chicken: When you know how to roast a chicken you have an infinite number of dishes at your fingertips, from springtime chicken with peas and morels to cold salads in the summer to a winterized version with roasted root vegetables.

Sauté: Recognizing the level of heat you need is the critical part of sautéing food. A duck breast should be cooked over low heat to render the fat in the skin and make it crisp, while fish is usually sautéed over high heat to develop flavor on the exterior through browning.

Pan-Roast: This combines two techniques, sautéing and roasting. It’s a good technique to use at home and only requires a frying pan or sauté pan with an ovenproof handle.

Make a pie crust: Baking your own pie crust gives you the framework to make a range of dishes. It also allows you to choose the type of fat you want to use as your shortening—butter adds richness, while lard can be great for savory dishes.

Cook eggs: Eggs can be prepared in so many ways – they’re delicious, inexpensive and nutritious. They can be used in sweet or savory meals as an ingredient or a tool.

Use the big-pot blanching technique: Big-pot blanching involves boiling vegetables in brine strength salted water until they are cooked through. The result? Vividly colored, perfectly seasoned vegetables.

Roast: There are two types of roasting: high-heat roasting and low-and-slow roasting. High-heat is used for foods that are naturally tender, like chicken or rack of lamb. Low-and-slow is used for either of two reasons: it can be used for meats that need to be tenderized or for large cuts that need to time to cook evenly.

Make one really good soup: There’s enormous value in making a good soup. A vegetable soup, a protein-based soup, and a pureed soup are all an invaluable part of a cook’s repertoire.

Poach: Poaching is a gentle form of cooking—the temperature never goes above 200˚F. Poaching allows you to flavor the cooking medium and thereby enhance the flavor of what you’re cooking.

Braise: Braising has the ability to develop deep flavor and tenderness in inexpensive, tough cuts of meat.  Braising is straightforward: the meat is seasoned and browned on the stovetop, then liquid is added and the meat is cooked in the oven at 275˚ to 300˚ for hours until it’s tender.