[Q] How do i know

i installed philz recovery yesterday after which i bricked my n7000 while i tried installing the C-Rom .
I just now used ODIN to get back to my STOCK ROM that is 2.3.6.
Its really interesting to see how i can just go back to the first firmware my phone came with :angel:

Please suggest me a combination of a custom recovery & a custom ROM without getting bricked .

as im new to this open source & trying new things for my phone ,i would like to try something according to your experiences .
Something which is stable ,smooth and latest !!

Thanks !!

i have read many many posts and whenever i try to install any recovery, i get E:verification failed !!
what am i doing wrong !! Please help !!