Teach yourself, treat yourself.

Naomi Pomeroy's Taste & Technique is a thoughtful approach to dishes akin to fine dining restaurants—broken down in a way that makes even the most intimidated home cook feel at ease. Each recipe introduces you to a technique, sometimes big, oftentimes small, that you'll carry with you from page to page, pulling out of your back pocket like it was always there. You'll now know to score a tiny "x" in the bottom of a peach before blanching it, so the skin slips off easily. The same technique you use to beat cream into a fluffy whip, you'll break out when making your first aioli. And learning how to get a good sear on a chicken breast will come in handy later for salmon and duck breast.

Amidst all the building-block techniques you'll pick up are Pomeroy's recipes. Some soul-satisfying, some delicate, all simply presented to let each component's taste shine. Dinner tonight? Crispy Fried Egg with Fresh Corn Polenta and Mixed Chicories with Grapes, Candied Walnuts, and Aged Balsamic Vinegar. Tomorrow we'll tackle her Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder, and a dessert of Apricot-Brown Butter Tart is in our very near future. Vivid photography sets Pomeroy's recipes to music—the photos shimmer alongside her pristine, detailed instructions.

Taste & Technique is a 2017 Piglet finalist! See how it does here.

Comes with a signed bookplate.

• Length: 400 pages
• Author: Naomi Pomeroy with Jamie Feldmar