I am really thankful that I started this blog, it has turned into more than I ever dreamed.  Since launching Red Bread we have found ourselves embraced by the community.  Not only am I am able to share stories and recipes here, but I can now feed my community delicious and nutritious wholesome foods.

If you’d like to stay in touch for more recipes, garden advice, fermenting adventures, jam giveaways, new store items and classes find them from now on at:

www.thebreadisred.com

You can find blog central here and check out all our new classes over here.

I hope you will join me there.  For now I leave you with this guy whose mopey because he lost his bandana.

Red Bread

hello@thebreadisred.com

424.272.5752

Some plants are natural bedfellows.  Their symbiotic relationships make their jobs of growing beautiful green leaves and delicious fruit easier.  Our Salsa Garden relies on these bedfellows to make our work as gardeners and cooks easier.

This past month the peppers ripened faster than their fellow plants and we find ourselves with a glut of spicy beauties.  Once all the spicy sausage has been stuffed, and the fresh salsa has been licked from our bowls we turn to preservation techniques to make the harvest last.  While not survival oriented as many food preservationist techniques are , this  simple infused vodka will make use of your bounty and is very delicious.  We call it Hötka.

Hötka

Add to cocktails for a kick, absolutely great in Bloody Marys and Margaritas.  A splash added to Marinara or Barbecue sauce spices up a meal easily.  

What you need:

Chili Peppers, handful

Vodka

What you need to do:

Line up peppers on your cutting board, remove stems.  Slice peppers into thin rounds, there is no need to de-seed the peppers.  Place sliced peppers into a glass bottle, cover with enough vodka to fill the bottle.  Cap and store bottle in a dark place for 1-2 weeks until peppers have fully infused the vodka.

When Hötka has finished infusing, strain out sliced peppers and return clear infused vodka to your bottle.  Place one solid pepper in for aesthetics if desired.  Enjoy!

Note: You can play with the number of chilis depending on the flavor and heat level you want.  It is important to store the infusion in a dark place, both while infusing and once infused, to prevent oxidation by sunlight.  Proper labeling, including name and date, will ensure you know exactly when your Hötka is ready.

For more info on bedfellows in your garden look no further than Jimmy Williams, he provides a wonderful one page guide in his book to plant your garden bedfellows easily.  Or stop by the Santa Monica Farmers Market this Wednesday, grab a cookie from our stand and walk a few more feet down to chat about plants with the man himself.

@

Santa Monica Farmers Market

Every Wednesday

Starting October 3 2012

8:30-1:30pm

Arizona and 2nd St Downtown Santa Monica

Rain or Shine or first contact from an alien race.

 All holidays, except New Years Day and Christmas Day.

 The farmers of  California are at the heart of Red Bread.  We believe the ingredients you start with determines everything.  The farmers and organizers of the Santa Monica Markets are especially near and dear to us.  Red Bread has been making  delicious goods with the freshest produce from the Santa Monica Farmers since we opened our doors.  We couldn’t be more proud to be joining them.

In addition to many of the items from our Sunday delivery reserved through the eMarket, we are busy putting the finishing touches on some new recipes we will be unveiling as Wednesday market exclusives!

We can’t wait to see you there.

“Chivas” means “female goats” in Spanish and thanks to the rich milk from Donna and Lauren’s incredibly adorable French Alpine goats (say hi to Shrek above!), you too can enjoy the benefits of a goat milk-enhanced beauty routine.

Goats milk soap is mild, natural and leaves your skin close to its natural pH level, which is something that can’t be said for detergent-heavy commercial soap. Goats milk also has the added benefits of vitamins A, B, C and D as well as protein, calcium, potassium and magnesium, which are easily absorbed into the skin.

You will never see a bar of Chivas goat soap crack down the middle because it’s made of pure goat milk, with no water added at all. The milk is fresh from Donna and Lauren’s goats, never powdered or canned. There are no synthetic fragrances, colorants or chemical preservatives.

While everyone can benefit from the blessedly lovely cleaning power of goat milk soap, it is especially good for those with sensitive skin, psoriasis or eczema, thanks to its gentle and moisturizing qualities. That’s why baby goats are so soft. Swear.

And if goat’s milk soap can do all of that for your skin, think of what it can do for your clothes! It’s worth mentioning that laundry detergent typically contains things like toxic phenols, optical brighteners, bleach, surfactants and fragrance, which are hazardous enough without reacting to each other. Sure, it smells like your clothes were washed in air freshener, but do you really want to swaddle yourself in a blanket of chemicals? Want to know the ingredients of Chivas’ Fragrance Free Old-Fashioned Laundry Soap? It’s just goat milk soap, washing soda and borax.

You love your clothes, so why not show them some love? The better you treat your nice things, the nicer they’ll look in the long run. And did we mention that Chivas made their amazing Old-Fashioned Fragrance Free Laundry Shop just for Red Bread’s eMarket? Yeah, we’re cool like that.

And if all that weren’t enough, Chivas gives back to The Nomad Foundation, sources their Shea Butter from a Fair Trade women’s cooperative in Togo, Africa, and like Red Bread, they maintain a low carbon footprint in their production and 100% Recycled paper packaging. What’s not to love?

Western Black Nightshade

Not to be confused with the very poisonous Belladonna of Europe, our Black Nightshade can be eaten ONLY when ripe.  The berries go from green (poisonous) to deep black and have the taste of a gooseberry and a tomato mixed.   The fruit are small and many hours of foraging are required to make a meal.  It was late in the season so there were even fewer to be found.  What little I gathered of the sweet savory indulgence was eaten like a wild caviar as we headed deeper into the hike.

Lambsquarter

Also called Goosefoot, this plant is a spicy spinach that can be treated exactly like its domestic twin.  It can be recognized by it’s leaf whose shape resembles…a goosefoot! The plant, especially young plants, will have a slight powder feel to the leaves. Mature plants has a rouge tint where each small sprig attaches to the stem.   These plants were already flowering to provide for the next season.  We were able to spot a few young ones in the wild as well giving us the unique opportunity to be able to learn to recognize a plant through its life cycle.  The sprigs I gathered are currently drying.  I can’t wait to work them into a pasta dough. Served perhaps with olive oil, sea salt, cracked black pepper and fresh Western Nightshade Sauce?

California Buckwheat

Completely unlike common Buckwheat, this red beauty had gone to seed and was drying out in the California Mountain Heat.  The seeds can be added to dough to make crackers, breads and pasta.  Aside from the taste it will lend, it makes everything fluffier.  The seeds are easily added to wheat free based breads to add lightness.  The simplest method to harvest the seeds is by placing a branch in a paper bag and shaking vigorously.  Pascal leads a class focused on wild breads and crackers that incorporates many wild seeds I can not wait to take.

Cattails

Cattails are old friends from my early childhood in Florida and I was surprised to find them randomly in the woods.  That was until our fearless leader (pictured below) informed us that we were standing in what was a lake only a few months before.  When I was younger, my siblings and I used to hit each other with these just to be obnoxious.  Little did I know before the large burr turns brown, they can be enjoyed like corn on the cob.  Additionally, the hearts inside young plants can be consumed and most resembles a lemony cucumber.  The older the Cattails become, the more starchy the heart becomes and the burr is no longer edible.

Jimson Weed

This beautiful weed is known for its psychotropic qualities.  It has been used throughout history in medicine and spiritual ritual in Africa, Europe and by First Nations people of the Americas.  High levels of concentrated chemicals can lead to overdosing easily, so research and caution is STRONGLY recommended if you chose to partake.

Burdock

This little burr from a Burdock was the inspiration for velcro!  We walked through a large patch of these tall burr covered plants and came out covered with these little buggers.

The best was yet to come when we headed back to the picnic benches where Forage Bar, the wild food pop-up run by Mia Wasilevich, the gifted chef behind Transitional Gastronomy was in full swing.  Several incredible courses were served under a canopy of trees as the sun set.  To say it was delicious is an understatement.  In Forage Bar, food is not only satisfying but inspiring as to what wild food can be. My favorite dish involved a baked Lambsquarter Quail Egg Soup topped by Lambsquarter Bread and Garlic cream.  To see all the other incredible food served at Forage Bar you will have to snag a seat.

And now an awesome fort.

If you chose to forage these plants on you own make sure to follow some simple rules to keep you and the environment safe.

Besides the coffee being amazing we are a sucker for a good story!  Plow and Gun is inspired by the 1862 invention of the same name, a combination plow and gun for the utility of the farmer under assault. As Plow and Gun explains, “it was not so much the invention itself, but the ideas behind it: that the frontier is hard work and dangerous. That unique problems require unique solutions. That with rugged tools, courage, and ingenuity, one can carve out a little place for himself.”

We couldn’t agree more.  So drink up, you have seeds to sow and fields to guard.  Get it delivered to your door this week.

We are downright giddy, as our California farmers have been bringing in more heirloom and wild varieties off their land.  When food comes to us this fresh we do very little to it: a few herbs, a little sea salt, definitely some spice and then get out of the way.

Don’t worry we’ve managed to keep cool between cooking sessions with a micro batch soda or fermented beverage.  In fact, on some days our Test Kitchen can be more accurately referred to as a Test Soda Jerk with bottles of  cream soda, chili watermelon, mulberry and classic grape floating around to taste.  But with all the experimenting, we haven’t had a minute to spare and share what we’ve been up to in quite a while.

If we can be forgiven for our absence, I propose we make up over spicy chorizo.  I’ve always believed that there is no shorter link between friends than a good sausage.

Chorizo

This is a spicy chorizo.  Makes 12-14 links approximately 5 inches long.

What you need:

4 lbs pork butt

10-15  whole dried chili peppers

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup water

3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 Tbs sea salt

4 Tbs paprika

1 Tbs Cayenne

Hog Casings

Grinder

What you need to do:

Prepare your spice mixture.  Start with the dried whole chile peppers.  Split lengthwise and remove the seeds.  (Avoid touching your eyes!) Bring 1 cup water to a boil, add the whole seeded peppers and allow to soak off the heat for 2-3 hours.  Place peppers, along with remaining spices into a food processor.  Puree and set aside to cool.

While you make sausage, you need to keep meat as cold as possible to get the best texture and prevent foodborne illness.  This can easily be accomplished by popping you pork butt into the freezer for 30-60 mins before you cube and grind it. Prepare your pork butt by chopping into 1/2  inch cubes.  If pork warms up during this process, pop back in the freezer.  Alternatively, you can also place the bowl with your cubed meat and the bowl that will contain the ground meat in shallow baking pans and fill with an ice bath.  This will ensure the meat stays cold for the entire grind.  Prepare your grinder, whether hand or attachment, set to a coarse grind and  steadily load meat into the grinder.

Combine cooled spice puree with ground pork.  Mix throughly with a wooden spoon, cover with a dish towel and place in fridge for 1 hour to allow flavor to deepen.  At this point you can grab a handful and make a spice pork patty if you like or you can proceed to linking your sausages.

To link sausage, return to your grinder to stuff your sausage.  Prepare hog casing and stuffer by placing a little olive oil on the spout before scrunching hog casing on. Tie a knot at the end of the scrunched hog casing and slowly feed ground meat mixture into the sausage stuffer holding hog casing as it fills.  This is the slowest part of making sausage, casings should be allowed to fill slowly so sausage width is even.

Once all meat is through the stuffer, tie off the end of the hog casing.  Twist stuffed hog casings every few inches to form links.  Use butchers twine to reenforce the links with a series of slip knots .  The easiest way to do this is to load  a chop stick with butchers twine, the chopstick serves as “needle” for your twine.  Twirl a good amount of butchers twine onto the end of a chopstick and tie the other end of the twine to one end of the stuffed sausage. Let twine off your chopstick the length of the pre-twisted link.  Pin twine in place with a finger from your other hand, while you guide your chopstick under and over the stuffed hog casing to meet it.  Tie a simple slip knot where the twist separates one link from another.  Repeat until you have a chain of chorizo links.

Chorizo can now be enjoyed fresh by placing in the fridge or frozen by wrapping in a layers of butcher paper, plastic wrap and tin foil.  Chorizo can also be hung to dry in a cool airy spot for 2-3 days and then enjoyed.

Note:  This is a spicy chorizo.  While the liquid added should not be played with, the spices can be halved or doubled to taste.  The entire recipe can also be doubled easily.

Note:  A hand grinder will take a little more muscle, but I have found them to be faster than the KitchenAid and won’t warm the meat up as much.  They are also quiet cheap, but be sure to get one that mounts securely.

And now…A Big Pig We Love.  Enjoy.

Kombucha is one of our favorite drinks.  It’s refreshing tart flavor is infinitely versatile and if you brew it yourself absurdly cheap.  Kombucha comes to us by way of China and Russia.  This sweetened tea beverage is made possible by a symbiosis of yeast and bacteria, alcohol created by yeast is turned into acetic acid by bacteria resulting in an effervescent drink reminiscent of weak vinegar.  Alcohol production is limited as acidity is increased though trace amounts may remain in your final brew. This effervescent drink has detoxifying properties on the body assisting the liver to function more efficiently.  Delicious and Nutritious? Yes, but like all things still in moderation.  This brewing process can be kept going in a cycle so there is always Kombucha on hand for you to enjoy.

Kombucha

Kombucha is best made with black or green loose leaf tea which is much fresher than tea bags.  However, tea bags can be used in place of loose leaf 1 bag for every tablespoon.  Many herbal teas have antimicrobial properties that prevent fermentation or in some cases can kill the scoby.  In the first fermentation we want the bacteria to win out! Herbs and flavors is added during the second fermentation where the fermentation is already established and therefore not at risk.  Honey is not a good alternative sweetner because it also has antimicrobial properties, although fermentation will happen it will be very weak. 

What you need:

3+ quarts purified water

3-5 Tbs of loose leaf tea, green or black

1 cup cane sugar

Scoby

Brags Live Apple Cider Vinegar *

What you need to do:

Place loose leaf tea in a metal tea strainer. Heat water to boil.  Pour hot water over tea, allow to steep till it cools to room temperature about 3 hours or  overnight.  Once tea is at room temperature pull out tea strainer and add raw cane sugar. Stir vigorously until sugar dissolves.  Pour into a wide mouth 4 quart jar.  Add Scoby.  If this is your first brew of kombucha you will need to add 1 cup of Braggs Live Cider Vinegar (or your own cultured vinegar!).  This helps to acidify the batch, if there is not enough acidity the mother will be “smothered” and sink.  A healthy mother floats at the top but may take 24 hours after the addition of a new batch of tea to refloat.  If mother does not float in 24 hours add more vinegar and give it another day, if necessary continue till mother floats or new mother forms.  In the future you will keep 1 cup  from the previous brew to add to your new brew to maintain the proper acidity.

Once Scoby is added, cover opening with a cloth napkin and secure with a rubber band.  Ferment at room temperature in a dark place, a cupboard works but I like to keep mine on the kitchen counter top (covered with another kitchen towel to block sunlight) so I don’t forget about it.  Allow to ferment for 7 days.  Brew should begin to bubble in the first few days.

After 7 days you can bottle your brew.  Or do a second fermentation to add a flavor.

Second Fermentation:

Pour brew into a second 4 quart jar, reserving 1 cup or more to acidify your next brew.  Here is where you would add flavor, no strict amounts everything can be done to taste.  You can choose to add crushed fruit, whole herbs and spices.  The easiest thing to do is add a flavored syrup which won’t requiring straining before bottling. Add up to 1 cup of flavored syrup. Cap tightly and ferment an additional 2-3 days to taste.  The tight capping will build up the effervescence.  Kombucha can be enjoyed in a glass immediately or bottled for further effervescence build up.  To continue to enjoy out of the large jar, simply move the whole jar to the fridge. Enjoy.

Bottling:

To bottle, whether after the first or second fermentation, pour kombucha into screw top bottles leaving 1 inch headspace.  Add a pinch of raw cane sugar and screw cap tightly.  Move to cupboard and ferment 3-7 days to taste.  The longer the ferment the more “dry” it will taste resembling a weak vinegar, the shorter the sweeter.  Once fully fermented move to fridge.  Enjoy on the go!

Note: Often your second fermentation and the bottles will develop new mothers, or what we affectionately call “babymommas”. You can discard, give away or drink up.  Consider it lucky!

Over time the mother scoby will grow thicker and thicker.  This is a great time to peel off layers and share with your community.  Even then you will find yourself in excess and at that point the only answer is candy.  Whenever I teach Kombucha, I bring these candies as a treat for my students and I am always handed back an empty jar.

“Buchies” Cultured Candy

Once dried Buchies taste of delicious tart apple pie.  

What you need:

Peeled layers of Scoby, at least 1/4″ thick

Raw cane sugar

2 cups  50/50 sugar syrup

What you need to do:

Make sugar syrup ahead of time by combining equal parts raw cane sugar and filtered water.  Heat until sugar just dissolves, cool to room temp and reserve in a jar.  Peel 1/4″ thick layers of scoby mother, be sure to reserve an intact mother to continue your brewing.  Chop mother into 1″ pieces. In a wide baking dish, create alternating layers of pieces of scoby and a sprinkling of raw can sugar.  When you run out of scoby to layer, pour room temp 50/50 sugar solution over scoby until almost submerged. Tightly cover baking dish with lid or cello wrap and allow to marinate for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, put parchment paper on a baking sheet with raised sides.  Pour entire mixture onto baking sheet. Bake overnight at the lowest temperature your oven will allow.  For most residential ovens this will be 170*, propping open the oven door a crack and turning on the fan will create a better drying environment.  After 6-8 hours candy will resemble Gummy Bears, after 14-16 hours candy will resemble a soft jolly rancher.

Note: You may need more or less 50/50 sugar syrup depending on the amount of candy you are making.

Note:  If you have a dehydrator capable of drying at a lower (below 115) and longer  temperature do so.  This will preserve the live properties of the candy!  Drying in the wonderful sunlight is also an option, but will take much longer and you must be sure to cover it from other living creatures who will be interested in a treat.

 Happy Brewing. Be Well.

Champelone

This jam calls out for a celebration. Our Champelone jam marries the sweetness of summer melons with the sparkle of our favorite drink, Champagne!  We can’t stop eating it paired with proscuitto and creamy cheeses.  Made with Sugar Cube Melons from Weiser Family Farms, Raw Cane Sugar, Meyer Lemon from Garcia’s Orchards, Champagne and apple it is hard to put down.

Rhubarberry

We can’t get enough of Rhubarb, so of course we jammed it!  Our Rhubarberry Jam is deliciously tart with large bites of rhubarb. We make it with just a handful of strawberries to let the Rhubarb really sing.  It is a hit spread on a roast chicken sandwhich with mixed greens.  Made with Rhubarb, Raw Cane Sugar, Strawberries, Meyer Lemon from Garcia’s Orchards and Vanilla.

And with the introduction of new jams…you guessed it!  Another giveaway: a jar of our Champelone Jam! Enter to win by leaving a comment with your dream jam flavor. You must be a Los Angeles Resident to enter.  Winner will be picked Friday at Midnight.  Happy Winning!

I find myself addicted to a new lemonade every year.  The lemonade of 2012 relies on fermentation by whey for its wonderful tart flavor and delicious fizz.  We add a touch of plum syrup to keep with the season but any stonefruit in abundance in your region would work.  Oh! But what is Whey?

Whey is a byproduct of milkcrafting, crafting milk into cheese and yogurt.  It is the liquid that separates from milk as it curdles.  Whey is high in protein, contains all the essential amino acids and many bioactive components the body needs to repair tissue, nerves and your immune system.   Whey can be drank straight as a health tonic or used to ferment condiments, vegetables and naturally effervescent drinks improving taste and nutrition along the way (ha!).  Basically, whey is pure magic and very good for you.  When we speak of whey for fermenting purposes we are only interested in sweet whey or live whey.  This whey is derived from milkcrafting utilizing rennet, not acid to curdle milk.  Acid based whey is not alive and will not ferment. Let’s get started.

Fermented Lemonade with Plum Syrup

Note: Lemonade will take 5 days to ferment properly.  Plum Syrup will keep for two weeks in the fridge.  Make Lemonade and Plum Syrup the same day, or make Plum Syrup the day Lemonade finishes fermenting.  

What you need for the Lemonade:

1 cup whey

2 cups lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 wide mouth gallon container, filtered water to fill

What you need to do: Combine whey, lemon juice and sugar in gallon container.  Fill with filtered water, leaving 3-4 inches of head space.  Seal tightly, cover with a kitchen towel and leave at room temp on your counter to ferment for 5-7days.  It will develop effervescent within 2 days and should taste crisp and tangy when ready, the initial sugar will have been consumed by the lactobacillus in the whey.  You can enjoy it straight, adding more sugar or honey to taste, or combine with Plum Syrup for the ultimate drink of the season! Lemonade can be kept in production without the need for additional whey, for the second batch just use 2 cups of the last batch of lemonade in place of the 1 cup whey. Follow the same steps.

What you need for the Plum Syrup:

3 cups plums, pitted and chopped

2 cup water

2 cup sugar

What you need to do: In a small sauce pan combine sugar, water and plums.  Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 5 mins.  Pull from heat and allow to cool.  You can strain with a fine mesh or simply scoop the plum chunks out with a ladle.  The former will result in pure syrup while the latter will have some fruit pieces left in.  Pour into a glass bottle and store in the fridge for 2 weeks.  Combine Plum Syrup with Fermented Lemonade to taste (2-4 tablespoons to an 8oz glass works for us!).  You can also combine with sparkling water for a natural soda!

Enjoy!  No time to ferment but still need your thirst quenched?  Make this simple and outstanding Lemonade.  It won’t have the bubbles but it will refresh!

We hope you had an incredible 4th of July full of laughter, bravery and community.  We spent the night on the Beach watching the fireworks over head and belting out the Star Spangled Banner.  It’s a song about going through hell and coming out triumphant.  We must be free.  We must be brave.