Each day as I do my mise en place for the evening meal, whether a simple repas for one or two or a festive preparation for a group of gourmands, I am amazed at how many tricks or techniques I may use that I've learned since I started working with cooking professionals. (I'm also amazed at how many times when I'm assisting a chef at a local cooking school that I want to interrupt the chef during class to say, "I have a better way of doing that!" But I don't.)
The following is not an exhaustive list of secret handshakes. I've just made a few notes as I cooked recently of the various techniques that I was using. Some will probably be "old hat" to you but others may be helpful.
