Fox’s Roasted Radishes

Does anyone remember Silly Goose Farm? That was Deanna Fox’s local food blog before she became the Capital Region’s hardest working person in food journalism. Period.

It’s amazing what she’s doing these days. Yes, there’s the All Over Albany Eat This pieces. But she’s also all over the Times Union. Then there are the regional websites. And now she is also getting some national play.

But I miss her little blog.

Still, I was listening to Fox a little while ago on WAMC’s Vox Pop call-in show. For those out of the area, that’s our local public radio station. It’s actually quite a big deal. Because WAMC doesn’t just serve Albany or the Capital Region, it reaches all the way out into western Massachusetts, well into the western hinterlands, farther north than one might expect to find civilization, and far enough south to reach Manhattan commuters.

Anyhow, Friday’s the topic is always about food, and Deanna is a frequent guest. The show comes on at two o’clock, and often I find myself pushing my own deadlines and not able to tune in. However, the week she was talking about roasting, I was all ears.

Live radio is tough. I don’t know how I would do on such a platform. Especially given the nature of some of the calls. But I’ve listened to some episodes with other guests, and Deanna does better than many.

It’s almost as if the callers don’t have access to the internet.

I mean, who could possibly be expected to know off the top of their head if venison has less or more cholesterol than the meat of other animals?

There was a lot of ground covered over the course of an hour. And I can’t remember exactly how this came up in conversation, but Deanna mentioned off hand that one of her favorite things to roast are radishes.

Say what?

But that was it. No further mention was made of roasted radishes. No temperatures. No times. No techniques. Nada. It was just floated as her favorite thing, and then let go to tackle other critical queries about marinating meats in acids to help aid in their tenderization.

Luckily, I have her direct number. So I asked. And she answered. 425 degrees. In a preheated pan. Coated in fat. Sprinkled with salt. About 25 minutes or until they are done. Dressed with a little sherry vinegar, if you’ve got it.

Done.

Funny thing is that when I sent Fox the pic, she was surprised to see the radishes roasted whole. Apparently, she typically cuts hers in half.

Which would explain the 25 minute time. Mine took a good bit longer. Probably closer to 45 minutes, and the larger ones could have probably gone a little bit further. And I used a combination of butter an olive oil, which worked out well.

Fox was right though. These are totally delicious. They are juicy, earthy, salty, and tangy. The internal color is a light pink, and the time in the oven transforms those hard crunchy orbs into something totally different.

I had a couple bunches laying around, which typically would get shredded into some kind of slaw. But during a cold snap, these roasted rounds were oh so much better.

Now I’ve got to run. Tomorrow, I’ll bring you another tale of a friend from the internet. It’s all about new tricks from old dogs.