Hello bread and grain friends,
I’ve been up to my elbows in buckwheat recipes and buckwheat information, taking it all in to help with a zine for the Culinary Breeding Network’s involvement in More Bang for Your Buckwheat, and I’m getting excited to share this fabulous collection of recipes with all of you! Also, if you want to learn more about this highly nutritious ancient gluten-free pseudo grain, you can attend the WSU Bread Lab Buckwheat Fest in early August. I’ll see you there!
Here’s what’s going on in my kitchen this month:
Mama Bread
This month’s Mama bread is made with the addition of buckwheat in every loaf. I’m heavily into a zine project with Culinary Breeding Network called More Bang for your Buckwheat. In these loaves I’m using flour from a mill that’s been in NY since 1797. Whoa! It’s one of the oldest in America. This project is to raise awareness of buckwheat, but also to get more diversity into the diet. I’m loving these loaves with a bit of buckwheat honey in the afternoons.
Sesame Einkorn
This year has been all about einkorn and these loaves haven’t left my side. This month, I’m making them with Anson Mills Sea Island benne seeds. My three favorite sources for einkorn flour are Bluebird, Carolina Ground, and Maine Grains.
Challah
I love making Challah on Fridays and putting it out reverently on the dinner table, watching it whittle down as my family joyfully takes bites with our Shabbat dinner. This is the best way to end a busy week, and the loveliest threshold to a mandated time of rest. I feel so much gratitude in these small moments. I’ve been working on a new version of naturally leavened challah with a sweet stiff starter. I’ll keep you all posted! I’ve been making it lately with Glacier Peak flour from Cairnspring Mill.
Other news from the world of grain:
-My friend Sonya who hosts the Food Friends Podcast (one of my favorites!) is also the most fun person in the world to walk around a farmer’s market with. She knows who has what and which time of year. She recently started doing tours of two markets in Portland and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. I took my dad and family recently, and although I go to the market regularly, I learned a ton!
-If you’ve been on one of my bread tours, chances are I brought you to one of Portland’s most unique bakery pop-ups—Bialy Bird. I adore this place because the food delights me and the staff are all so kind and considerate to all the various different people I bring in. They just got their brick & mortar and they’re doing a Go Fund Me to build it out. Consider giving, even just a little, to help bring this amazing bakery into our community.
-Did you know that I have a community page? It can be accessed here, and there, I’ve provided some videos demonstrating how I feed my starter.