Your Custom Text Here

Brett Braley-Palko Brett Braley-Palko

More gardening! More picking! And radish scones!

It used to be too hard for me to look back on a year and see how it changed me. It was weird, to think that the pebble that skipped between one spot and another could create either too many ripples or not enough. In California, between ages 20 and 24, I grew up; but it was in a fractious way that I still have a limp from nowadays. I'm learning from that, though.

But now I look back at a year and see where I am and it is both humbling and terrifying and satisfying all in one. A year ago, I was living at home and Nolan was living at his parents', too, and we would see each other once in a while and drink and fall asleep. A year ago, I was sequestered to my old childhood bedroom while I saved up and figured out what I wanted out of life and a relationship and if we were buying a house or moving somewhere new again. A year ago, there was a lot more silence in my life and a lot less to do during the day. A year ago, everything was different and uncomfortable and I wasn't ready to move forward.

Now--now we have a house and the dogs and the chickens and the land. I have room to stretch in bed and still be cuddled by the person I am going to marry. My hair is grown out and curled and I tend to wear old flannel shirts and there's usually dirt under my nails. We garden now, picking from our little bed the lettuce and radishes and onions we'll have for dinner. Nolan's dad planted them when we first moved in. We throw our scraps to the chickens and eat the rest. Just another thing we take care of, just another responsibility we have for our land.

We have only the smallest recollection of How It Used to Be. And we savor the mornings with cups of coffee and the nights with a beer and everything in between is working towards a goal now--whether that goal is painting or fencing or just pulling out the sofa bed and watching movies for three days. It's all there to make us happy; to make others happy, too. The only part of us that still exists from a year ago is that Nolan still smokes the same brand of cigarettes and I still have a flair for dramatics. Everything else is different.

A year can really change a person or two. 

And each year it seems like we take a small vacation in the summer for something with food. Last year, we spent a couple days in Charleston, WV to tour the JQ Dickinson Salt Works. This year, we are heading to Vermont on Friday to go see Vermont Creamery, so i thought what better way to begin celebrating than with a goat cheese scone. And to commemorate our growth in a year, to look at how a year can change two people, I added radishes from our garden. Spicy and plump and terribly beautiful, they added an element to the scones that naturally flavored them beyond the usual salt and pepper of my upbringing.

Enjoy. 

Dill, Goat Cheese, and Radish Scones

This recipe is a riff on last week's post for my shortcake scone. This is a savory version, so either you can really use as a base and just swap out the flavorings with whatever your heart desires.

Ingredients:

  • 2  cup AP flour
  • 1 TB baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk (for egg wash)
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup goat cheese 
  • 1/2 TB dill, chopped
  • 3 large radishes, rough and finely chopped + 1 or 2 sliced for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F and prepare a sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment paper
  2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt
  3. With clean hands, roll the butter into the flour with your fingers, creating flakes. Continue to crumble butter until fat is the size of peas
  4. In a measuring cup, whisk together your egg, cream, and cheese
  5. Create a well in your dry ingredients and with a wooden spoon slowly mix while you pour your wet ingredients in
  6. Continue to mix until fully incorporated and a dough comes together
  7. Add dill and chopped radishes and fold to incorporate into dough
  8. Pat out onto a floured work surface and shape into a rectangle
  9. Cut into 9 pieces and transfer onto your prepared sheet
  10. Make an egg wash (1 yolk + 1 TB water) and brush onto your scones
  11. Top each with a radish slice
  12. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden
Read More
Brett Braley-Palko Brett Braley-Palko

The Leftovers: Roasted Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Spread

I spent yesterday at my sister's place, kissing my niece's hands and telling her I love her. We showed her the Christmas lights and she stared in amazement at the colors. We ate off of paper plates on the couch and my mother said she was thankful that I was home now. I tried to fight off a nap and nearly lost. I was in bed by ten after finishing the first season of Fargo.

Today, I'm baking alone. I have the house to myself and I'm going to clean up my mess and then make a new one, I'm sure. But, like last year, here is a recipe for some of your leftovers - this time with sweet potatoes.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Spread

This recipe is very forgiving, so feel free to use any kind of goat cheese you'd like. Further, this recipe outlines if you do not already have roasted sweet potatoes on hand -- if you do, then just use a cup or a cup and a half of your leftovers.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sweet potato, cut in half and pierced with a fork
  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 4 oz creamy goat cheese (I used Vermont Creamery's Spreadable Goat Cheese)
  • 1 TB parsley
  • 2 TB honey
  • Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425*F and lightly grease a shallow casserole dish or baking pan
  2. Place your sweet potato halves skin-side down in your prepared pan and drizzle with olive oil and pat a quarter cup of sugar on each
  3. Roast for 30 minutes or until fork-tender
  4. Remove from oven, allow to cool
  5. Remove from skins and place meat of your sweet potatoes and the caramelized sugar in a food processor
  6. Throw in remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. You may want to add a bit of greek yogurt to this if it is not as smooth as you would like
  7. Store in an airtight container for up to a week, use on toast for breakfast

 

Read More
Brett Braley-Palko Brett Braley-Palko

Herbed Goat Cheese Straws

October is my favorite month, it’s the beginning of the holiday season, the threshold to gathering, laughing, worrying less about your diet. It’s the start of colder nights, warmer beds that beg you to hit the snooze button a few more times. My breath fogs my glasses when I got o check the mail. Milo wears sweaters now, he sleeps motionlessly on my pillow next to me. We daydream of farming, fireplaces, and flea markets. This is my first year home to see the leaves turn, to greet her like an old friend.   I’m keeping recipes like the one below in my back pocket to have ready when family visits. We won’t have much time to prep a big meal; my sister gives birth to her first child on Monday and I know all of my time will be spent with her these next few weeks.

Herbed Goat Cheese Straws

Ingredient:

Direction:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*F and prepare a half sheet pan with a parchment paper
  2. In a bowl, use a wooden spoon to cream butter and goat cheese together
  3. While still stirring, add flour, salt, and herbs gradually
  4. Turn out onto a floured work surface and pat into a rectangle
  5. Use a rolling pin to roll out to about a foot long and a ½ inch thick
  6. Cut into a dozen strips
  7. Pick up one strip, an end in each hand. Turn each end alternately to twist
  8. Lay onto your baking sheet
  9. Repeat with remaining strips
  10. Bake for 10 minutes, turn and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown

Read More