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Learn a recipe and you can make one dish. Learn a technique and you can make a hundred. The methods below show up across nearly every cuisine; once they are in your hands, most recipes become variations you can improvise on rather than instructions you have to follow to the letter.
Four methods that cover most of what happens in a kitchen.
High heat, dry surface, a little patience. The browning - the Maillard reaction - creates hundreds of new flavor compounds. Do not move the food until it releases from the pan on its own.
Sear, then simmer low and slow in liquid. Tough, cheap cuts turn meltingly tender as collagen breaks down into gelatin. Almost impossible to mess up and better the next day.
Dry heat in the oven, ideal for vegetables and larger cuts. High heat and space around each piece give you caramelized edges instead of steamed mush.
Whisking fat and liquid into one smooth sauce - vinaigrette, mayonnaise, pan sauces. A little mustard or egg yolk holds the two together so the sauce clings instead of splitting.
Dry surfaces brown; wet surfaces steam. Whether you are searing a steak, roasting potatoes, or crisping tofu, patting the food dry first is the single highest-leverage habit you can build. Heat management is the other half: give the pan time to get properly hot, then do not crowd it, or the temperature crashes and everything sweats instead of sears.