Recipe: Goat Cheese and Chive Scones
What I made for breakfast the day the L.A. wildfires raged
I’m sitting here still in shock and processing the city’s collective grief as wildfires ravaged Los Angeles last week. Thick, heavy, smoky air that smelled like campfire and plastic enveloped the air and cast an apocalyptic orange glow across the sky.
I’m safe, I’m okay.
We’re gonna be okay.
It’s gonna be okay.
Rainbows still found their way through the orange light onto my kitchen countertop. They made me smile through the uncertainty and fear.
“Mother nature is just mother nature. Everything it does has both beauty, danger and suffering in it.” — @MiyabePhd
Tuesday night, the Eaton fire started to engulf Altadena. It happened fast. Neighborhoods just north of me were evacuating and fleeing for their lives. I was in the red zone just south and in the path of the toxic smoke.
I baked these scones Wednesday morning because we needed to eat breakfast, and I didn’t know what else to do yet. Miyabe was visiting from the East Coast and we had planned to explore Little Tokyo that day.
“It’s unlikely a fire would jump the freeway, right?” I nervously said aloud hoping for validation as I calmly packed mementos from my grandparents, important papers, food and medicine for cats, and anxiously scanned my house for anything irreplaceable.
“The black sesame looks like ash from the fire,” Miyabe said while chewing and contemplating the fresh baked scone, still warm from the oven.
I added a couple tablespoons of black sesame powder into the soft fluffy goat cheese and chive scones for its sweet, nutty flavor to punch up the basic scone recipe. Snipped a handful of chives from my garden and loaded in as much goat cheese the batter could hold.
Soft, fluffy, warm, and comforting. Biting into one felt like a warm hug. Exactly what we needed at that moment nourishing us to prepare us for the emotional rollercoaster that followed.
I have no words of solace or reassurance today. Everyone in L.A. knows someone who lost everything in the fires. We are all on edge and not okay. I am safe. My cats, house, and the dispensary I work at are safe, for now.
I don’t have the energy or capacity to list all the resources and ways people can help or support. Here’s how you can help people who have been displaced by the wildfire:
Find and provide well-researched solutions. Don’t ask if they’re okay, ask more questions, or make more work for someone.
They don’t have the mental capacity to sift through the avalanche of information and manage your emotions as well.
Offer free storage or help arrange storage.
They don’t have a place to keep or store all the free stuff they’re receiving.
Offer long-term places to stay that don’t price gouge.
Rents have skyrocketed as tens of thousands across the city search for housing.
Even if someone’s home didn’t burn down, they won’t be able to live in their fire-damaged homes and neighborhood for a very long time.
Donate directly to people via GoFundMe.
In addition to donating money to non-profits and emergency response organizations, you can give directly to people in need.
This Google doc of Eaton Fire Funds lists GoFundMes for those affected. If you know someone, fill out the form for them, and add their GoFundMe page to the list.
Black Sesame, Goat Cheese and Chive Scone Recipe
With a spoonful of black sesame seed powder. This recipe is not infused due to the high baking temperature. Instead slather and enjoy with infused butter, jam, or honey.
INGREDIENTS:
5 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cubed
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons black sesame, powder or seeds
6 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 cup coconut milk, full fat
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Make scone batter: In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a large food processor, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and black sesame powder. Add in small cubes of cold butter and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter tool, or pulse in the food processor until the small chunks of butter and flour are in a crumbly mixture. (Similar technique as making pie dough.)
If using a food processor, transfer the dough into a large bowl. In the bowl, gently fold in small chunks of goat cheese and chopped chives. Add in the coconut milk and gently stir with a spatula until just moistened and combined. Do not overmix or it will make the dough tough. The dough will be very sticky and wet.
3. Shape the scones: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape using your hands into an approximately 8-inch circle. Alternatively, gently press into a parchment lined cake pan to mold into shape. Using a sharp knife, cut into 8 large wedges and transfer each wedge onto the baking sheet at least 2 to 3-inches apart.
4. Bake the scones: Bake until lightly golden brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
After we ate our scones and calmly packed our go bags, Miyabe and I played music together and had a jam sesh. They taught me how to play a song on my ukulele and we streamed it live on IG as an impromptu Tiny Garden Concert.
As weird as it seems to laugh, play music, and make merriment while the city burns around us, it steadied our nerves, provided an outlet for somatic release, and gave us the emotional strength we needed. Radical acts of joy.
XOXO, Christina W.
