I spent this past weekend with my best friends from high school (see picture above which I pirated from Corinne...it's Liz, Corinne and Suzanne from left to right). They are great friends and all three of them are, in my opinion, particularly gifted in very different ways. Since I love them equally, I'll go in alphabetical order: Corinne is a driven, ambitious person who maintains the ability to empathize with all of the people who touch her life, which is a rare and beautiful combination. She is one of the great communicators in both the written and conversational sense - she can convey her thoughts in a beautiful and powerful way without losing the substance. Liz is incredibly creative to the point that I'm not even jealous...and I DO tend to be jealous of people who are good at things that I can't do. She is one of the only people I know who has true vision. She's also a perfectionist which gives her the tenacity she needs to drive her visions to completeness. Suzanne is the most patient and understanding person I know. She's also the kind of person who always makes your guest list because her sheer presence will make whatever you are doing more fun. Additionally, she's probably one of the smartest people I know - she's able to pick up on things and truly understand them faster than anyone I've ever met. So...that is a recap of the friends I spent the weekend with! We did a lot of eating, cooking, chatting and drinking. I had a great weekend and there were some epicurean highlights! Everyone cooked some great food. Below are a few recipes that I brought to the table.

Lemon Caper Branzino

Ingredients:

4 Branzino filets
3 Lemons
4 TBL butter
1 C dry white wine
3-4 Cloves garlic
2 TBL capers
2 TBL fresh thyme
Vegetable Oil
S&P

1. Dry the filets with paper towels and salt and pepper on both sides. If the filets have the skin on, lay them flesh side down (skin side up) and refrigerate until the skin is completely dry...or in my case, until you're ready to cook/too impatient to wait.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet. When the oil is starting to smoke, carefully put two filets into the skillet flesh side down. Do NOT move the fish around because you want the skin to get nice and crispy. After 2-3 minutes, flip the fish over for an additional 2-3 minutes. The skin should be crispy and the meat should have a golden brown sear. Remove to a serving platter and put in the oven on the warm setting...you don't want to cook the fish anymore, just keep it warm so use your best judgment about the temp of the oven. Repeat with the other two filets.

3. Scrape any large pieces of skin out of the skillet and discard. Add butter and garlic (diced or pressed) into the skillet on very low heat being careful not to let the butter burn. Once the garlic has started to cook, pour in the white wine and allow the alcohol to evaporate. Add in the capers and allow the mixture to simmer for a minute or two. Turn the heat off and squeeze in fresh lemon juice making sure to reserve half a lemon for garnish. Add in fresh thyme (you can use any herb you want...dill is also nice). Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper and more lemon if necessary.

4. Spoon the sauce over the Branzino filets and place extra in a pourable container...most would use a gravy boat...I use a measuring cup or whatever quasi ghetto container I have close by. Garnish the platter with lemon slices and fresh sprigs of thyme.

* An alternative to using a gravy boat for the extra sauce is placing the filets on garlic mashed potatoes or rice, which would absorb the extra sauce nicely.


Pesto, Egg, Cheese, and Puffed Pastry

Ingredients:

4 Eggs
4 Sheets of individual puffed pastry (you can also do with one large sheet, but the other ingredients might vary in quantity)
4 TBL pesto (store bought works just fine)
1 C grated cheese (I recommend guyere but I used a mix of leftover gouda and Manchego and it worked great)
1-2 TBL Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 small onion
S&P

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Defrost pastry and place on a cookie sheet. Score each square about a half an inch in from the edge- this creates a barrier to help keep the egg in place. Put the pastry in the oven for a few minutes (less than 10) and remove when everything is puffy but not yet brown. Take a took pick and deflate the center of the pastry leaving the center lower than the edges.

3. Caramelize the onion using butter, salt and pepper and a tiny bit of sugar towards the end.

3. Turn on the oven's broiler.

4. Spread a table spoon of pesto on each square of pastry. Sprinkle the squares with grated cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese melts and browns slightly...this takes only 2 or 3 minutes so watch closely and be careful not to let the pastry crust burn.

5. Turn the broiler off and put the oven back to 375.

6. Remove the pastry from the oven. Add caramelized onions and crack an egg over each one of the squares. Depending on the size of your pastry squares, you may have to abstain from using the entire white of the egg because it will run over onto the cookie sheet.

7. Put the cookie sheet back in the oven and cook until the white of the egg set which will take 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to let the yoke cook because it should be runny when cut into.

8. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and fresh cracked black pepper and serve immediately.

This recipe sounds much more labor intensive than it actually is and it's totally worth whatever work is involved. The multiple layers of flavor, texture and color make it pleasing to all the senses!