A No-Recipe Recipe

1. Preheat a largish skillet. How large, you ask? Depends on how many people you are feeding, but if you’re debating between two sizes, choose the larger one. Once the skillet is hot, add a thin coating of olive oil, and heat over medium heat.

2. Now comes the magic part: add to the hot oil a teaspoon or so of your favorite dried herb or herbal combination, and saute for about 30 seconds. This will open up the cells of the herbs and make them come alive. I’m very fond of a blend from Penzey’s called Shallot Pepper. It does have dried shallots and black pepper, but actually the primary flavor is tarragon, which happens to be one of my absolute favorites.