It doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to be good.

Quite often I’m told that I am too “fufu”, fancy, fussy or uncompromising, in particular, when it comes to my cooking. At the same time, I’m told quite often that the meals I produce are great, “keepers” or at least good. The latter is true even when the main ingredient is something that the taster doesn’t think he or she likes.

Let’s use scallops as an example. In one case, I was developing a party menu for my friend, Ronnie. Ronnie is an oneophile with quite a collection. His entertainment objective for this party was to couple foods with the wines he wanted to showcase.

During the weeks prior to the event, we hashed over menu suggestions, and I produced various samples. We then paired the food samples with the wine samples. Through a process of elimination, we narrowed the selection for Ronnie’s party, with one exception - the appetizer.

I knew the particular wine he wanted to serve with the first course would pair excellently with scallops. Yet, when I mentioned scallops, Ronnie turned up his nose. No way. “No way am I going to serve scallops at my party,” he said.

The next weekend presented an opportunity for us to sample more appetizers. As you just guessed, I served scallops. The freshest scallops I could find. Nothing frozen. Straight from my fishmonger. Sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt, freshly cracked pepper and Moto-Rub #1. Plated on a bed of minted pea puree and a freshly fried potato chip. Not my recipe, just my cooking and fresh ingredients. Dr. Ronnie thought it was fantastic, a “keeper”, one for the menu.

Sounds fancy. An oneophile, food and wine pairing, etc. It really isn’t. It’s a matter of the basic rule of fresh ingredients when cooking. Take the same ingredient out of a formal dinner setting and do something similar.

Cindy and I invited Janie and Gary to spend an afternoon at our home. We intended to throw a few items on the grill and “pick” at heavy hors d’oeuvres while swimming, visiting and playing with the kids.

The morning of their visit, Cindy and I decided to make some shrimp cocktail. I couldn’t help myself while at the fishmonger’s – I saw great looking scallops, so I took it upon myself to pick up a few (1 pound). (I found some great looking lump crabmeat as well.) While making the shrimp, I threw a fry pan on the cook top, poured some olive oil into it, and seasoned the fresh scallops with sea salt, freshly cracked pepper and Moto-Rub #1. I seared the scallops. They were finished when Janie walked into the kitchen. Another Ronnie experience! Janie did not like scallops until she tried mine. I don’t attribute this to my cooking; rather, I attribute it to the fresh ingredient rule. Nothing can be less fancy than throwing some fresh scallops into a fry pan.

The rule can be applied to all foods. Buy the ingredients that make things good - ground chuck versus ground beef. When buying steaks, pick a grade that is USDA Choice or Prime rather than Select. Use fresh rather than frozen when you can. Why used boxed potatoes when fresh are available? Throw the margarine away and only buy butter.

Now both Ronnie and Janie enjoy good scallops. They don’t have to be fancy. They just have to be good.

What do you say?