Good Quote: Jacques Pépin on Winging It

Not so great about meal planning? Take some cues from a famous French chef:

We never really plan ahead. If we don’t know what to do, there are always eggs. We love them. Right now I have beautiful tarragon, chervil, chives, and parsley coming up in the garden, the classic ingredients for a fines herbes omelette. With just some potatoes next to it, it’s the perfect dinner.

This quote is part of the "My Day on a Plate" series at Gourmet's website. You can read the full article here:

• My Day on a Plate: Jacques Pépin

We know it's easy for a famous chef who's been cooking for decades to throw together an impromptu dinner that tastes fabulous—easier than it would be for the average home cook. But for those of us who shop daily and never know what we're eating until an hour before dinner, Pépin is nice company to be in.

We're big fans of eating an egg for dinner, in case you haven't noticed...

• 10 Ways to Eat an Egg Tonight
• Un-scrambled: More Ways to Eat an Egg

Pépin's description of an herb omelette sounds a lot like Faith's Egg, Arugula, and Herb Tartine, pictured above.

(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (3)

I have wonderful results and utter disasters when I decide to just "throw something together." It's part of learning how to cook, I think.

posted by heather77 on June 22nd 2009 at 3:47pm
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Any and all leftovers can be thrown into a scrambled egg (or frittata, or omelette, or what have you). It's my saving grace in the kitchen, when there's nothing in the fridge but some remnants of takeout, or a spoonful of sauce.

And I do mean any leftovers. I've chopped up pizza, crust and all, and scrambled an egg around it. Surprisingly good!

http://www.abreadaday.com

posted by eprewitt on June 22nd 2009 at 5:03pm
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I usually work on cabinet and leftover cooking the most--it's the most creative I get in the kitchen!

Last weekend, we had nothing in the fridge except for a few mushrooms, some radish greens (from the tops of delish farmer's market radishes), and some frozen spinach. Sauteed it all with onion, olive oil, and fresh thyme and threw it on a frozen pie dough disc for an open galette. Never knew the bitterness of radish greens, which are usually too overwhelming, would work so well!

posted by lotusmoss on June 23rd 2009 at 9:48am
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