Cooking is the best part of my job. Cooking is also the easiest part. It’s the one part of my day that I look forward to, and that’s if I get to do it. Unfortunately, most people don’t feel that way. It’s more of a chore or hassle, and a lot of times people find it more intimidating than it is. I won’t lie, cooking in a professional kitchen is much different from cooking at home. Too many times have I ruined a meal in my sister’s kitchen because I was thinking like a line cook. What I mean is that I would cook as if I had an unlimited supply of pans, an immersion blender, and a chinois. Come to find out that, no, most home kitchens don’t have those items. Thankfully, chefs never stop learning! So, without further ado, here are my tips for being a better home cook.

1. Work with the best ingredients you can afford. This should be easy: Better ingredients lead to a better meal. I often think back to old French cooking, where chefs used to cook with tons of butter and cover everything in heavy cream sauces. Now, because of the quality of ingredients, we try to do less and less. There is nothing better and more respectful you can do to a carrot than to cook it and season it properly.

2. Play some music while you cook. Music makes you feel good, and there is no doubt a connection between music and creativity. I can’t stress enough how vital it is that you are happy while you cook.

3. Mise en place. It’s the first term every culinary student learns. Literally means “set in place.” Get organized and work diligently. Give yourself plenty of time and space. Lay all your ingredients out, work in straight lines from left to right. Undone on the left, done on the right with your cutting board in-between. Those carrots you’re about cook beautifully…don’t peel and cut them one at a time. Peel all of them, then cut all of them. A clean and organized station shows a clean and organized mind. You would be surprised how much more efficient you become just by following this step.

4. Cook with all your senses. Did you know that when you sear a piece of meat you can literally hear the change in sound when it’s finished? When you first place your steak in the hot pan, there is a ton of moisture on the surface that reacts violently, which results in that loud sizzle. As the meat continues to cook, it undergoes a chemical change, and the sound becomes less and less violent. Be aware of everything going on in your pan.

5. Recipes are important, but use them as guidelines. Go with your instinct and cook from the hip.

6. Learn to season with acids. You’d be surprised at what you can achieve with a lemon that you couldn’t with salt.

7. Cook what you know and learn more as you go.

8. If you can’t figure out what to cook, go to the market and just look at the product. Most of the time, I don’t even know what I’m cooking until I stand in our walk-in cooler for 10 minutes.

9. Cook how you feel and with the seasons. You’d be surprised how great that broccoli tastes in the fall.

10. Like Sean Brock says, “Cook every meal as if you were cooking for your grandmother.”

11. If you don’t know who Sean Brock is, I suggest you find out.