I was visiting my mother in Missouri this past week, so I wasn’t able to go out on the boat for Memorial Weekend, the first weekend we usually go out fishing. But my husband was in town, and went out with a friend to Whittier, in Prince William Sound. They were successful in catching some nice, small, tender halibut, which I cooked for dinner tonight. Halibut grow quite large-I think the record is 480 lbs or so, maybe larger. I caught one that was 120 lbs a few years ago. If we keep them, we always eat them no matter the size (we really try not to waste any fish we catch), but I am always happy to see small ones when I reel in the line. The 15-20 pound range are very tender and mild, and my favorite.
I saw a recipe in a cooking magazine I was looking at on the plane yesterday. I think it was Food and Wine. It was for grilled ratatouille. I thought that sounded good, so I stopped at the store after work tonight and bought some vegetables to grill. I didn’t have the magazine close at hand, so I didn’t follow the recipe, although I think what I made was close. I brushed the vegetables with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and grilled. I included eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet onion, and red pepper.

I then cut the vegetables into small pieces, tossed them with quartered cherry tomatoes, chopped basil, salt, pepper, capers, and a small amount of red wine vinegar and olive oil. I quickly grilled the fish that had been brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and served the two together. Another reminder that spring is actually here. Spring can sometimes come late to Alaska. I left the state last Tuesday night, and the trees were just leafing out, and I came home last night to green everywhere, and my rhubarb at least twice the height of when I left. Yeah! Now, if the weeds just hadn’t grown so tall also….