Fall in Normandie, France brings Pain Normande. This bread  is a specialty of the region showcasing the apples that have just come back from harvest. Bakers will either use some of the local “hard” or alcoholic cider, or fresh cider. Oftentimes, they will use fresh cider that has just begun to go off or turn sour believing that it helps with fermentation. The bread is traditionally made with Levain (french for sourdough), but much like bread all over France it is often made with yeast. Of course, our version will be made with Levain. Dried apples incorporated into the dough complete the bread.

So, where does the name Pain de Pomme Barden come from? Every year, we buy Apples and fresh cider from Barden Orchards in Johnston, RI to sell in our retail stores. It seems only fitting to use their cider and apples in the bread! I hope you agree!!

Maybe, a good stinky runny cheese with this one?? Grilled cheese? Try it simply toasted with good butter!

Almost every bakery in America makes Ciabatta these days. Our Durum is based on it, and shares many of the same characteristics. When we opened, we chose to do something different, and that’s where our durum comes from. Ciabatta is a yeasted bread. Sometimes, it’s made with various yeasted starters, sometimes with a little sourdough. I don’t know of any bakeries making it 100% naturally leavened, but why not?

Once upon a time, much like France, Germany and any other great European baking nation, Natural Leavening would’ve been used to leaven bread exclusively. The French call it “Levain”. Germans “Sauerteig”. Italians “biga naturale”. Americans any of the above or simply sourdough. All of these very traditional pre-ferments or starters are the same, but very different. The way it is manipulated creates different flavors and textures in the bread. The Italians and French don’t want sourness in their bread, considering it a defect. Commercial yeast didn’t exist until the industrial revolution. It was made in a factory, so it doesn’t seem to be too much of a stretch to think that any bread could be made with sourdough.

This months bread will be made like Ciabatta, but it’ll be 100% Biga Naturale. Sourdough. Naturally leavened. A new version of Ciabatta? How about just a good loaf of bread? I hesitate to call it sourdough, because of the connotation it gives. This shouldn’t be overly sour. It should have many of the same texture nuances of a sourdough bread, but hopefully it won’t be overly sour.

First version. Unfortunately, some of the loaves stuck to the proofing linen, and I lost quite a bit of volume as a result. These are some of the “good” ones. Nice hole structure. Tastes great, with slight acidity. I hesitate calling this Ciabatta, because frankly, it doesn’t really taste like it, but it is a great loaf of bread!

This has been a humbling experience. There are about 1,000,006 variables in making a loaf of bread that starts in the fields and ends in the bakery. Usually, flour is 100% usable and the rest lies in the skill of the baker. It turns out, I’ve had some funky flour to work with lately. I was starting to go crazy thinking I didn’t know how to make bread anymore, and turned to Randy George of Red Hen Baking in Middlesex, Vt. for some guidance.

Red Hen Baking’s 100% naturally leavened (sourdough) Whole Wheat bread is the true inspiration for the bread I’ve been attempting to make. The Whole Wheat from Red Hen has great volume. It has intense wheaty sweetness, with just the lightest touch of sour from the sourdough. It is a hearty bread, but it’s not dense at all, and it seems to stay fresh forever. The complete opposite of what I had been making. Randy’s first piece of advice was NOT to use the Heartland Whole Wheat flour that I had been using, but to use Whole Wheat from Milanaise in Quebec. That part is kind of a bummer since I was so excited about being at the mill, but oh well. It’s more about great bread to me than anything else.

The flour is here, and it has made a dramatic difference in the bread. It is still not where I want it to be, so I’ll be continuing to make the bread for the next few weeks. I’m feeling determined to nail this. If it is half as good as Red Hen’s Whole Wheat I’ll feel like it’s a job well done.

Randy is not only a great baker, he’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. If this baking gig doesn’t work out, he may consider a second career in the music business!

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Apparently, Kansas leads in the US for wheat production with Colorado, Texas and the Dakotas trailing. As a baker, standing in a field of wheat, or riding a combine is quite an experience. This year I decided to take Ian, our Production Manager, out to see the fields first hand, and visit Heartland Milling, where our Organic Whole Wheat and Rye flour come from. As the farmer, Carlin Kohen told us, “today, we did a 360. The farmer. The miller. The baker. None of us go to work each day without each other. It was an honor having you here today.” How true! To shake the farmers hand that grows your wheat really puts what we do into perspective, and knowing where our wheat comes from makes me want to use more flour from Heartland milling. Thanks to this trip, we may go mostly organic in the future!

Combines. I got to drive the red one. Yield may have dropped slightly on the run;) Notice the size of the combine in relation to the 18-wheeler behind. These things are HUGE! 3 combines cleared a 160 acre plot in around 2 hours!

We met Thom Leonard of Heritage Grain & Seed Co. in Lawrence, Ks where we also got to see some of the Turkey Red wheat growing. Then, Thom accompanied us to Heartland in Marienthal, Ks to tour the mill. Thom Leonard, what a cool guy! It was great spending 3 days with the man. We had a great time, and I hope he did as well.

Turkey red wheat

Thom & Ian with a small field of Turkey Red

Ian contemplating this years harvest.

Heartland Mill

Stone mills for whole grain flour

Roller mills for white flour

In honor of the trip, and with wheat on the brain, July will bring a 100% Whole Wheat bread. This will be unlike our pan shaped Whole Wheat since it will be baked in the deck oven in a free form round shape. It will also not contain any honey or commercial yeast. Often times, 100% whole grain sourdough breads can be overly sour. That is not what I’m going for here, so it’ll evolve from week to week.

Ingredients:
Heartland Milling Organic Whole Wheat flour
water
Salt

As always, I appreciate any feedback!