Here’s an article on the Most Common Cooking Mistakes made by home cooks.  This one is particularly common, in my humble opinion.  I think it’s been ingrained in our psyche that it’s bad to taste the food while you are cooking it because that’s where those “extra” calories hide. My advice:  Don’t ever put food on the table that you haven’t tasted before it went on the plate.  Less embarrassing that way.

Mistake Number One!

1. You don’t taste as you go.

Result: The flavors or textures of an otherwise excellent dish are out of balance or unappealing.

For most cooks, tasting is automatic, but when it’s not, the price can be high. Recipes don’t always call for the “right” amount of seasoning, cooking times are estimates, and results vary depending on your ingredients, your stove, altitude…and a million other factors. Your palate is the control factor.

Think that experienced cooks don’t forget this most basic rule? Cooking Light Associate Food Editor Tim Cebula was sous chef in a notable restaurant when he served up “caramelized” pineapple that somehow refused to brown. Turns out Tim had coated the fruit in salt, not sugar. “That’s why it wouldn’t caramelize.”  Taste Test As You Cook < Cooking Tips and Cooking Questions Answered – Cooking Light.