As a first good cooking habit, learning to read recipes through. Think about what you’re supposed to be doing and why. Consider the time it will take and give yourself leeway so you don’t get flustered.

Taste

The only way to get the most from a recipe is to taste while you are making a dish _ that is, taste critically and taste often, at different stages of cooking. Recipe instructions frequently say “correct seasonings,” a most important piece of advice that is usually ignored. What you want to achieve is a balance of flavors. Actually there are only four possible tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter (coffee, for example, is bitter), and you won’t encounter all of them necessarily at once. To understand, think of making a glass of lemonade, where the balance between sour (acid lemon juice) and sweet (sugar) is critical. If the balances are right, the drink is pleasing. Of course, other factors are also important: the use of good, fresh lemon juice, a clean glass, and just the right amount of ice so the lemonade is chilled but not diluted.

When you are first learning to cook it is hard to know what ingredients integrate harmoniously and how to balance taste. You learn by doing; practice is the only way to develop that taste judgment. A fledgling artist expects to ruin some canvases in the learning process and knows that not every picture will be a museum piece. The same applies to cooking, so be prepared to have less than perfect results at the first. And never stop tasting, no matter how experienced you think you have become. When tasting food, move it around your mouth rather than just tasting with the tip of your tongue so that all your taste buds are working to make the proper evaluation.

Start their preparation. If there are unfamiliar techniques involved in a recipe that is new to you, immerse yourself in the entire general introductory material first so that you’ll understand the principles underlying what you’re about to attempt.

A second and almost equally important habit – one that develops with experience – is to start thinking in the market, especially when you’re planning dishes that depend on specific fresh produce, like particular cut of meat, or a kind of fish, clams, certain vegetables and fruits.

You will not only cook more economically if you look for what’s “on special” or what’s in season, but the end result will taste much better when you use ingredients that are at their peak of flavor. Try not to have your heart set on certain items and then pay an exorbitant price for hothouse versions that lack the quality of the real thing. Be flexible in choosing recipes, and be open to alternatives.

It’s intelligent and creative to think ahead, both when you’re in the market and your own kitchen. Shop for several interrelated meals at a time and do the more time – consuming preparation when you know you’re going to be around the house. For working people, as well as other cooks, it may be easiest to cook a big roast and a large stew on the weekend and then use the cooked meat in various ways on week nights when time is more limited. If you know you are having people for the weekend, pick a few hours earlier in the week to do a lot of the initial cooking so you’ll be free when your guests are around.

If you have a well – stocked freezer there is no need to buy a lot of “convenience” foods, which are expensive and usually not very satisfying. What you’re doing is furnishing your own kinds of convenience supplies. If in addition, you keep a well – stocked pantry and freezer, you’ll feel a great sense of well- being with everything at your finger tips.