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Be sure to read a recipe all the way through before you cook. The time it saves you in the long run is invaluable.

I'm a decent cook, and I will try to cook anything. My only weakness is that I don't know servings - I only know how to make a lot.

If I had one piece of advice for people - if they are cooking from the Alinea cookbook, the Betty Crocker cookbook or the back of the box - read through the entire recipe first before reaching for any ingredients, and then read again and execute the directions.

You don't have to stick with these recipes. They're guides. As I say, they're a way in. Have fun with them. It's an easier way to cook in a busy life, once you get the hang of it.

I really feel I have found myself as a chef. It's very clear to me what I want to do - and how it should taste.

Simple ingredients prepared in a simple way - that's the best way to take your everyday cooking to a higher level.

Once you know the fundamentals of cooking, then you don't need to follow a recipe - you just know what herbs go well or what meats, or what combination of what goes together, and then you can just branch out from there. But if there's something specific that I want to make, I work on the recipe and tweak it to my own.

The first time you make something, follow the recipe, then figure out how to tailor it to your own tastes.

I learned to cook because I want to know about the food and the ingredients going into my family's bodies.

Basically, I go to the local farmer's market and decide to what to cook then, depending on what I find. Either my wife or I cook, and we usually finish a bottle or two of wine by the time we are done cooking and eating.