[tptacek]

This is the premise behind Ruhlman's books _Ratio_ and _Twenty_. Both are great.

Another interesting prism through which to look at cooking is the format used by the CIA's _New Pro Chef_, which covers technique, still focuses on recipe, but also introduces evaluation criteria for each dish: you're not simply following steps, but also judging the outcome carefully, which forces you to focus on what you're actually doing.

And then there are recipe books that use recipes as a vehicle for teaching a broader technique. A good example would be _Sauces_, which is compromised of recipes for sauces, but is a survey of the techniques involved in saucing a dish.