sourdough Archives | Eat Bread 90

June 27, 2017July 5, 2017 by Lin Carson

I Found a Pearl in Portland: Day 82, 83 and 84

Delicious, crusty and full of aroma. The bread I received from Pearl Bakery had a great texture and was bursting with flavor. This is probably due to their different leavening methods and preferments that extends their fermentation and provides each variety of bread its own unique flavor. Pearl Bakery’s breads are made only with unbleached wheat flour, water, sea salt, and sometimes yeast. They do not add preservatives or dough conditioners. I examined their fermentation methods and these were what I learned.

Pearl bakery’s shelf is stuffed daily with a large variety of crusty artisan breads.

PAIN POOLISH

Pearl bakery uses a Poolish that is a liquid, yeast-based starter that is allowed to ferment for 16-24 hours before being mixed into dough. This starter imparts a nutty, rich aroma, crisp crust and soft, open crumb. Breads like their baguette, parisienne and ficelle use this polish.

My delicious Wheat Levain loaf that has a sweet and smooth sour to the bite.

PAIN AU LEVAIN

Some of their breads like the Wheat Levain, Walnut Levain and Pane Coli Santi are made with a special levain. Levain is a culture of flour and water in which wild yeast and flavor-producing bacteria naturally occur. This is a traditional french sourdough, with a mild, complex tang. No commercial yeast is added to these breads whose pre-ferments require daily feedings of flour and water to maintain the delicate balance between yeast and bacteria. Pearl Bakery’s Pain au Levain is characterized by a dense crumb, chewy crust, and slightly sour flavor great with cheeses and charcuterie.

A crusty loaf of Pane Coli Santi.

Pugliese is their signature bread. It has enormously large holes with a delicious, chewy crust. A silky texture is created through the addition of extra virgin olive oil. Their Ciabatta is merely a smaller version of Pugliese. They also offer it in loaf that is jam-packed with kalamata olives.

Pearl bakery olive ciabatta fermentation

An olive ciabatta loaf.

PAESANO

Their popular Paesano is an Italian country bread leavened with a pate fermentee: a portion of yesterday’s dough that is held over to spur fermentation and enhance flavor. A mixed starter is made from a hunk of pate fermentee, water and flour. This is fermented for a number of hours before being mixed into dough. With its fine, tender crumb and thin crust, Paesano is great for sandwiches bruschetta, or alongside a bowl of pasta. This dough also makes up our famous, hand-knotted Kaiser Rolls.

I ate their multigrain loaf that is loaded with whole grains and seeds, and it is absolutely delicious.

The Pearl Bakery is a Portland staple. Nestled on the edge of the Pearl District near Powells City of Books, it supplies bread to well over 20 local restaurants and stores. What started as a small bakery in the late 90s has sure grown! The company is very environmentally conscious, from their packaging, to power source (pollution-free wind power) to their baking formula. Their artisan, hand crafted breads are made with organic, sustainable, local ingredients as much as possible. Probably part of the reason their products taste so good!

Here’s what I ate on Days 82, 83 and 84 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 82
Pearl St
Multigrain	4 slices (40g)	600
Sourdough	4 slices (40g)	500
Croissant		240
Brioche	1 bun (80g)	177
Chicken and Spanish Rice and Beans	1 C	300
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Coconut water	2C	100
Pineapple	3 oz	41
Total		2,158
Day 83
Pearl St
Multigrain	4 slices (40g)	600
Sourdough	4 slices (40g)	500
Ricotta	1/4 C	100

Cherries	1C	74
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Oreo Thins		200
Hamburger and Corn on Cob		400
Total		2,074

Day 84
Pearl St
Multigrain	5 slices (40g)	750
Sourdough	4 slices (40g)	500
Nutella	2 tbsp	200
Coconut water	2C	100
Southwest Chicken Salad		300
Total		1,850

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Egg Challah from the King's Kitchen and Bakery

May 25, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

Who’s the King? Day 52 and 53

Today at the International Symposium on Bread, Mike Pappas from The King’s Kitchen hosted our private bread tasting party. What is unusual about this bakery? The King’s Kitchen operates as a public restaurant, serving local, healthy, Southern cuisine and the profits and proceeds from “The King’s Kitchen” goes toward feeding the poor.

A delicious array of bread available for us to taste. Made from 100% natural levain.

In addition, The King’s Kitchen works with “The Restoration Program,” a five-part training program to employ, train and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to the homeless, the poor, troubled youth, rehab graduates and other members of our community who need employment.

Mike Pappas is a traditional baker who wants to bring historical products, in a modern context, that meet global standards. At the tasting party, I got to try a bread he developed: 50% organic whole wheat flour that also has a bit of semolina, butter, fennel, anise, red wine vinegar, and mountain honey. It was delicious!

Mike told me he uses 100% natural, multi-grain liquid levain, “that has some other fun bells and whistles that I add to it.”

Mike Pappas from the King's Kitchen and Bakery

Mike Pappas, an Executive Chef, a Yeast Trapper, an On the Bench Baker, a Mature Pastry Maker and a Highly Developed Savory Chef, showcases the bread he baked for our private bread tasting party.

In other bread news, I have volunteered to take the title of Crumbassador for the Portland region! What does that mean? Well, Dr. Nedezhda Savova-Grigorvova, a cultural anthropologist has created a game called Bread without Borders.

After seeing so much hurt and conflict in the world, Dr. Savova-Grigorvova begin to wonder if there was a simple solution to bring unity and happiness.

She saw one way to unite people around the world with through something they have in common—bread.

Many countries see bread as way of friendship and sharing. So starting in the middle east and Africa, she hosted bread baking events across the globe until 7 years later it became the Bread House Network. Now, she is releasing the game Bread without Borders. Built from her knowledge and experience, it’s an educational game she knows will help individuals and communities.

We will be working with partners like the Wheat Marketing Center, and other local bakeries to play this game, and bring our local communities together. I just jumped at the chance that Team BAKERpedia could be part of this new wave of community development around bakeries.

Whole wheat 100% Levain from Mike Pappas

My favorite: a 50% organic Lindley Mills Whole Wheat (the other nearly 50% is Sir Galahad) that also has a bit of semolina, butter, fennel, anise, red wine vinegar, and mountain honey.

Here’s what I ate on Days 52 and 53 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Day 52
Whole grain sourdough	6 slices	600
Egg Challah	6 slices	660
Mozerella cheese	3oz	240
Apple	1	95
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Nutella	1 tbsp	100
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Handmade Beef Noodles	1 C	300
Total		2135
Day 53
Whole grain sourdough	6 slices	600
Egg Challah	2 slices	660
Jim Little’s Croissant	50g	230
Fried Kale	1C	120
Apricot Sugar-Free Jam	2 Tbsp	40
Nutella	1 tbsp	100
Ricotta Cheese	1/4 C	100
Chocolate lemon cake		300
Walk		-240
Total		1910

My podcast co-host, David Deblauwe and I tasting the fabulous bread (and goofing around).

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April 30, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

I Want to Make Them Happy: Day 28

I know what’s it like to travel with a friend on such a strict diet. So for today, I’ll try to be fun for my friends. I said ‘yes’ to Dim Sum. For those of you not familiar with this Asian culture, Dim Sum is mostly consumed at brunch. It originated from the Canton province in China, and it is similar to Tapas, where small plates of food are served. We ordered a variety of plates, and I got 2 servings of bread with the BBQ pork steamed bun.

Soft and silky steamed BBQ pork buns, Red bean glutinous rice ball covered in sesame seeds and fried noodles with bean sprouts were part of our Dim Sum brunch.

Dim sum was delicious, but we had to part ways today to go back home to our families and my well-structured life. Let’s hope they have no negative opinions on me my bread diet, which really restricted them in some ways on the types of restaurants we could go to (I apologize for not doing sushi with you!).

Upon reaching home after a 3 hour ride on the Amtrak, I was still full. I couldn’t eat anything else. Come 5 p.m., I had still about all of my day’s bread consumption not eaten. So I ate two slices, and kept the rest for the next day’s challenge.

Crispy Ciabatta and wholesome rye sourdough bread.

Here’s what I ate on Day 28 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Grand Central Baking Ciabatta Loaf	200g	560
Grand Central Baking Rye Sourdough	4 slices (50g)	560
Chinese Steamed BBQ Pork Bun	80 g	150
Fried noodles	6 oz	500
Chinese Broccoli	2 C	200
Glutinouse rice balls	2	380
Pork dumpling	1	90
Shrimp dumpling	1	80
Orange	1 orange	45
Cappucino	1 C	75
Coconut water	1 C	45
Walk and run		-500
Total		2185

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April 29, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

I’m SO Not Fun to Travel With: Day 27

I booked an appointment with the production lead at Grand Central Baking Co’s first location today. I wanted to capture a Facebook LIVE event showcasing the bread at their first location and also pick up some awesome sourdough bread.

The display at Grand Central Baking Company.

We started our day with a walk to a nearby Skillet restaurant. Skillet started as a food truck in Seattle, and has grown into a restaurant chain. Did I mention you can judge a restaurant by its bread? I had the Serious Toast, and it was made with a smooth and rich brioche bread. It was UNBELIEVABLY heavenly!

Skillet’s Serious Toast is made with molasses custard soaked thick cut brioche, local pit ham, raspberry jam, powdered sugar and scrambled eggs.

Just look at that toast!

Since this meal came with egg and ham, I gave those away to both my high school friends (who are still puzzled why I am eating so much bread). I couldn’t finish the double decker French toast, so I had to doggie bag it. This was half (over 250g) of my day’s consumption of bread right there. I finished them up later in the day.

A visit to Grand Central Baking

After breakfast, we made it over to Pioneer Square. Toured the first Grand Central Baking location, then wolfed down some pastries and more bread. Michael, the production lead at this location, gave me a potato roll which I finished within 12 minutes during the FB live recording. The sour of this roll was so smooth and soft.

Easy to say, that was the best-tasting potato roll I ever had. Why? Because they take a Yukon potato, skin it, cube it and mix it into the sourdough. Who in the world takes the trouble to do this? Doesn’t it show you how much passion they have for the thing they love most – making the best bread in the world? I get impressed by Grand Central Baking every time I talk to them. Their passion is evident why they remain successful.

Fresh baked pastries line their bakery case at the first Grand Central Baking Location in Pioneer Square.

We walked a whole 8 miles! This cost me 800 calories. Which meant that I could eat some more bread for dinner! I told my friends (both Asian) that we cannot eat at any noodle or rice restaurant, and one of them replied “you are so not fun to travel with at this time; can’t you just drop your bread diet?” So we compromised on Agrodolce in Fremont, an Italian trattoria which served handmade noodles and pasta.

Grand Central Baking Rye sourdough slices with Agrodolce’s antipasto misto.

They brought out their Focaccia bread. Mama Mia! This was real Focaccia! What did I say about judging a restaurant by its bread? Agrodolce not only made delicious pasta, they really knew how to make a great Focaccia as well! While my friends both had pasta, I had antipasto misto, caramelized broccoli (which was out of this world) and tomato and fennel soup with my Rye Sourdough from Grand Central Baking. We also celebrated 30 years of friendship with Prosseco and Port (not such a great idea after looking at my calorie count).

Here’s what I ate on Day 27 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Skillet’s Serious Toast	2 slices (100g)	900
Grand Central Baking Rye Sourdough	4 slices (50g)	560
Egg	1	300
Ham	1	105
Macaroons	2 pc	120
Potato Roll	80g	120
Meat plate		300
Tomato Fennel Soup	1/2 C	75
Caramelized Brocolli	1 1/2 C	150
Tiramisu		250
Prosecco	1 glass	90
Port	1/2 glass	50
Coconut Water	2 cups	90
London Lavender Fog		150
Walk 8 miles		-800
Total		2460

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April 28, 2017June 28, 2017 by Lin Carson

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Loaf: Day 26

I looked at my half-eaten loaf of Sonoma Sun bread from Alvarado St. Bakery and said, “You’re coming with me.” I have to go to Seattle this weekend to meet a couple of my convent high school friends, one of whom I haven’t met for 30 years. I packed my bread up and headed to the train station.

The traveling Sonoma Sun loaf in my bread bag.

The accompaniments in the bread bag.

I have to admit, I was fearful and excited at the same time. I had never boarded an Amtrak train before and I really don’t know what is proper train etiquette. Plus, this is the first time I am traveling on a bread diet. You know how diets are ruined with travels!

lin - eat bread 90

I started the day really disciplined, until I saw Ivar’s clam chowder soup at the Bistro car. Yes! My mind was saying no, but my taste buds were screaming for a taste of delicious creamy and chunky clam chowder. So, this happened.

Ivar’s Clam Chowder with slices of Sonoma Sun bread is the ultimate Amtrak combo!

That was truly a bad choice for my diet, but I doubt it would be the last bad choice I’ll make this trip.

I immediately went for a 2 mile run upon reaching my destination. Wished I could do more, but I had to meet another friend of mine for dinner at Anchovies and Olives (a seafood tapas restaurant). My challenge was to make sure that I consumed the rest of the bread in the restaurant.

Grilled sun choke salad with Aioli, scallion and mint (top left), smoked fish crostini with pickled onion (top right), and grilled macrina foccacia with bang caudal (bottom): my meal at Anchovies & Olives.

Did you know that you can judge a restaurant by the bread it serves? This restaurant had no clue what a foccacia is. Their grilled focaccia was a glamorized ciabatta with grill marks. I could hear my husband say, “Don’t be a bread snob,” and I really needed to consume my fill of bread for the day, so I had to eat it—regardless of whether or not it met my standards of foccacia. It just puzzled me why they can’t just call it grilled ciabatta.

Here’s what I ate on Day 26 of EB90:

Food	Portion	Calories
Brioche French Toast		800
Grand Central Baking Rye Sourdough	4 slices (50g)	560
Egg		300
Ham	1	105
Macaroons	2 pc	120
Potato Roll	80g	120
Meat plate		300
Tomato Basil soup	1/2 C	75
Caramelized Brocolli	1 1/2 C	150
Tiramisu		250
Prosecco	1 glass	90
Port	1/2 glass	50
Coconut water	2 cups	90
Walk 8 miles		-800
Total		2210

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April 26, 2017August 10, 2017 by Lin Carson

Bread Recipe Roundup

If all this talk about bread is making you hungry, why not give a shot at making your own?

There’s no reason to be intimidated by baking your own bread. I know, it’s so easy to just go pick up delicious artisan loaves off the shelf. However, there are hundreds of easy, tasty recipes that will make it hard to ever go back to store-bought bread again. From sweet to savory to classic and everything in between, you could be baking (and enjoying) bread today. Here are just a few recipes I found:

10 Delicious Bread Recipes

bread recipe sourdough french rolls no knead bread

1. Easy Bread Recipe

An easy, simple bread recipe that’s a great place to start. Plus, there’s no kneading involved.

http://www.alexandracooks.com/2012/11/07/my-mothers-peasant-bread-the-best-easiest-bread-you-will-ever-make/

2. Simple Crusty Bread Recipe

With just a few ingredients and few steps, you’ll have a bread with a crusty crust that’s bursting with flavor.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018203-simple-crusty-bread

3. Sweet Bread

Sometimes you just need something sweet. In just five minutes, you can whip up this sweet bread, perfect for breakfast or dessert.

https://julieblanner.com/sweet-bread-recipe/

4. Simple Whole Wheat Bread

If you’re looking for a more healthy option, you’ll want to taste this whole wheat honey loaf.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6773/simple-whole-wheat-bread/

5. Hearty Whole Grain

Whole grain products are rising in popularity, so stay trendy with this recipe for a satisfying bread that allows you to experiment with different whole grains.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/hearty-whole-grain-bread/

6. French Bread

A classic loaf, and staple for some meals, is french bread. If you own a food processor, this is the recipe for you!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/french-bread-235423

7. Pumpkin Brioche

Who says you have to eat your bread in a loaf? These brioche rolls are as unique as they are tasty!

http://www.bakerpedia.com/baking-recipes/pumpkin-brioche/

8. Rosemary Avocado Quick Recipe

Vegan? No problem! Here’s a rosemary avocado bread everyone will enjoy!

http://www.thefussyfork.com/rosemary-avocado-quick-bread/

9. Bacon and Cheese Bread

While we’re adding things to bread, why not go all out with with this savory loaf that has BACON!

http://www.eatwell101.com/bacon-and-cheese-bread-recipe

10. Sourdough Bread

And last but not least: the classic but irresistible sourdough bread.

http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-sourdough-bread-34753

Do you have a favorite bread recipe? Let us know in the comments.

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April 19, 2017August 10, 2017 by Katie Jones

Bread Q&A: Is Today’s Bread like Neolithic Bread & More

Does today’s bread resemble Neolithic bread?

The basic process is the same. The whole grains are ground and milled and the basic ingredients are the same today as neolithic bread. Bakers through the centuries have learned through trial and error how to make the best bread possible. And we’re still enjoy bread today!

What is the most popular bread?

It depends on who you ask. With all the varieties available, we all have our preferences. According to research, the most popular types are French, Sourdough, Whole-wheat, Rye, and Multigrain. And just like with everything else, trends change as new varieties are introduced.

On average how much bread is consumed in one day?

According to 2016 statistics, most households consume 1-2 loaves of bread per week. Over all, each of us eats about a ton of food each year.

Is bread fattening?

Bread, like most tasty things in life, contains fat such as oil and eggs. But it also contains healthy grains and ingredients our bodies need. And relatively speaking, bread is lower in fat than foods made with bread, such as pizza, bread pudding, egg-bakes, and sandwiches, not to mention hamburgers and other delicious foods we love to sandwich between bread.

Who invented sourdough?

Sourdough bread was invented by ancient Egyptians by accident. They brewed a lot of beer and the yeast likely originated from that process and got accidentally mixed in with their unleavened bread ingredients. Then, poof! The yeast introduced air pockets into their flat bread, and the resulting bread was lighter and tastier. Then Egyptians recreated the process and began refining it to continue making improvements.

Why are there lines, crosses or other designs in bread loaves?

What we typically call Artisan breads today are loaves formed and baked on sheets rather than in pans. Often the loaves are baked in wood fired brick ovens. The designs and lines on the loaves create a distinct look, but also serve an important purpose in the bread baking process. These lines, called scoring, are made by the baker just before putting the loaves in the oven. The cuts create a weak spot on the surface of the loaves which prevents bursting, like poking holes in a potato before baking it to let the steam escape during baking.

How did Wonder bread get its name?

The name comes from its advertising campaign. Consumers were told by the media back in 1921 that a Wonder was coming and the name stuck. If you haven’t every squished and rolled a slice of Wonder bread in your hands, try it, it’s tasty.

Do I need to give up bread to lose weight?

In a word, no. Reducing overall calories and increasing exercise are the best ways to lose weight. Bread and carbs are not the enemy, so toast on, my friend. Enjoy slicing up a loaf and creating your new favorite sandwich. Bread is one of the good guys!

Neolithic bread, bread questions, bread, types of bread

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