Putting a description before a noun
Japanese places a verb-based description before a noun, as in 'the book I bought yesterday.' In longer phrases, find the head noun at the end and read its preceding description as one unit.
Find the head noun
昨日買った本 means 'the book I bought yesterday.' The phrase refers to 本, and 昨日買った identifies which book. Japanese does not insert an English-style relative pronoun such as 'that' to form this structure.
駅で待っている人 means 'the person waiting at the station.' Even when the description grows longer, identifying the final 人 helps you see that the phrase refers to a person, not a location.
Use a plain form before the noun
明日読む本 means a book to read tomorrow; まだ読んでいない本 means a book not yet read. The modifying verb can express negation and timing. It is not always fixed in the dictionary form.
In 私が作った料理, 私が identifies the person who made the food. が is a useful basic marker for the subject inside such a modifying clause. Do not place a polite form directly before the noun as 作りました料理.
Place the phrase in a sentence
In 昨日買った本を読みます。, the entire modified noun phrase is the object of 読みます. を follows 本 but applies to 昨日買った本 as a whole. Separate the verb inside the modifier from the main verb.
For a longer phrase, first identify 'which thing.' Group 私が昨日駅で買った本 as 'the book I bought at the station yesterday,' then use the following predicate to learn whether someone reads it, lends it, or does something else.
Check: In 私が作った料理を食べました。, does the modifier describe a person or food?
Show the answer and why
It describes 料理, the food. 私が作った means 'that I made,' and the whole noun phrase is the object of 食べました.