Hello everyone,
Here we are in the tilt of this ever changing world, and I’m making some alterations, as well. I’m shifting my focus to on-line teaching to create more ways for people to learn at home. I think we’re all going to need this come winter when we’re stuck inside again. Check out my new on-line Flour Hour on Airbnb. From now on, I’ll also be announcing one-off classes in various types of breads that you might want to learn come the season when we’re stuck inside again. Keep a watch out for that. In the meantime, hope you enjoy your various projects.
Here’s what’s on the menu this month:
Mama Bread
This month’s Mama bread is made with Doris wheat from The Bread Lab in Washington. They developed the grain to be a nutritious and flavorful wheat that also offers farmers a lot of benefits and incentives to grow. They named it after Doris Grant, a nutritionist and early champion of whole grain loaves and critic of the overuse of refined foods. During WWII, she created a whole grain bread called the Grant Loaf, which maximized wartime ingredients and strove to bring nutrition to the people.
Naturally Leavened Challah
One of my favorite weekly rituals is making challah bread on Friday for my family’s Shabbat dinner. I always use stone-ground flour, usually a little sifted, and source a special honey for the week’s treat. This bread also has an abundance of local eggs, and is either swirled with cinnamon & currants or topped with honey & sesame seeds. These are rich loaves packed with beloved ingredients to make a sacred place of the table.
Organic Sandwich Loaves
The sandwich bread this month is made with T85 Sequoia wheat from Cairnspring Mills. This type of flour basically means that 85% of the ash content is still in place after processing, while 15% of the grain was removed with milling. Sequoia is grown by a Washington farmer who dry farms his land and helps regenerate soil through as few inputs as he can manage. While not certified organic, I vouch for this flour as a sustainable option when needing something that acts very much like white, all-purpose flour. To these loaves, I’m adding a bit of malted barley flour from Tuality Plains in Forest Grove, Oregon. The barley adds a hint of cereal sweetness and boosts the browning capabilities.
Shokupan
My kids are teens now, and as such, their tastes are growing and changing. One thing they’ve always asked for is soft white sandwich bread, and after a stint of watching Midnight Diner my penchant for wanting this kind of bread is strong now, too. Back in the early aughts, I worked on the Saveur 100 issue and fact checked a story about Shokupan, Japan’s version of Wonder Bread, but better. I decided to try my hand at this soft & fluffy Japanese milk bread and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.
Seedy Einkorn & Rye
This bread is the newest in my repertoire. It dawned on me that I could use my einkorn starter to make a mostly-rye bread and I decided to give it a go. Wow, am I glad that I did. This is a labor intensive bread, as I grind all of the grains myself and diligently toast and soak the seeds, but it’s worth it! The rye comes from Tuality Plains and the organic einkorn, from Bluebird Grain Farms. I pack it with organic flax seeds and Anson Mills Sea Island benne seeds. I also include sprouted pumpkin seeds. As one friend put it, a slice of this bread is a meal unto itself.
I am happy to share any of my formulas with you if you reach out. I hope whatever you are baking is inspiring your day!
With delight and gratitude,
Other news from the world of grain:
-As we start to enter darker days and more cold, I find myself inside more with little social interaction. As a lifelong learner, I’ve been enjoying taking classes and learning things on-line. One that really stood out is an Airbnb Experience I did about Pompeii. It scratched, not only my intellectual itch, but also my travel bug for an hour as the host walked us through the ruins of Pompeii. I highly recommend it!
-Have you ever visited this website? As a lover of food history, I’m in love. If you’re the same, go asap to check out Tavola Mediterranea.
-For information about the Flour Hour experience on Airbnb, go here.