If summer, real summer, is the three month period that runs from June 1st through the end of August – not by the calendar, of course, but by the way we feel it – then today, July 15th, is the halfway point. I like to think that we’ve been doing it up right so far, what with picnics, and ceiling fans, and flip-flops, and barbecues. On Friday afternoon, we met some friends by the river, and someone brought a rhubarb cake with creamy, cooked polenta baked right into it. We ate it from paper cups, and Mia tasted her first blueberries, and when we walked home around seven, there was a breeze off the water, and also the feeling that we still had the whole night ahead of us. We’ve even had a few decent thunderstorms, the kind that explode out of nowhere and soak you to the core in your tank top and canvas shoes. We were out walking, the three of us, a few weekends ago when the skies opened up, and we ducked beneath some scaffolding to watch the storm and wait for it to pass. We had seen the sky darkening in the distance, but there’s a new bakeshop in town and we were already on our way, and inside there was a chocolate walnut cookie that the man behind the counter insisted I try. If only I had skipped that cookie, we might have made it back before the rains came, so technically I guess it’s my fault that we were trapped out there, not three blocks from home. Mine or the cookie’s, that is. But we got to count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder, and see Mia’s eyes go wide when the sky would light up, then rumble and crash. Thank you, chocolate walnut cookie. Also, you were delicious.
Today, we spent the morning on a beach. It seemed a proper way to mark summer’s midpoint, but I must say, we were fools to wait this long. We live about an hour from the North Shore, and we left early enough to get to the water when the beach opened at 8am. My sister came along, and the roads were practically empty, and so was the sand when we arrived. The water was a brisk 62 degrees, but by 9:00am it was hot enough that I flung myself out into it and happily let it swallow me, whole. We sat Mia down on the packed wet sand, and when the first wave came in and lapped at her feet, she looked concerned. Really, though, she was just checking, – she likes to check these days – looking up at me to make sure that this was what the ocean was supposed to do. I gave the all clear. Then, she couldn’t get enough.
It’s summer, and every other Tuesday night, when Carolyn is at the market selling her husband’s fish, we eat haddock for dinner. I prepare it the way Carolyn suggested once last year, brushed with olive oil, seasoned, and baked beneath a mantle of tomatoes and lemon. It’s everything you’d expect from the recipe I’ve just described, light and fresh, nice with bread and a bit of cheese, my kind of summer meal.
p.s. -- This photo's worth clicking for a bigger, better view.
Baked Haddock
Carolyn’s recipe
A note about the herbs in this recipe: Last year I made it with parsley most of the time, and this year I'm on a basil kick. Tarragon is always lovely with fish, so you might try that, and I think cilantro would also be nice. I made it once with thyme and, instead of scattering the chopped leaves over the fish at the last possible moment, I stuck a few stems in and around the tomatoes and lemons before baking. Be careful if you go the thyme route. I find that it can taste kind of mossy when you have too much of it.
2 half-pound haddock fillets
1 tomato
1 lemon
Olive oil
Kosher salt or Maldon salt flakes
Black pepper
Fresh herbs (see note, above)
Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Slice the tomato into ¼-inch rounds and the lemon more thinly than that.
Lay the fish fillets on the prepared pan and brush them with olive oil. Layer the tomato and lemon slices on top – I like 2-3 thin lemon slices per fillet and a lot more tomato – and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and flakes when you nudge it with a fork.
While the fish is baking, wash, dry, and chop your herbs, and sprinkle over the fish, together with a pinch more salt and pepper, just before serving.
Serves 2.