Breadness Buzz - The OG RB is Back, New Rustic Crust, Happy Hallah-days...

NOTE: If this is your first Breadness Buzz, or you've been part of our tribe but missed earlier posts, visit the Breadness Buzz Archive here and catch up on some Breaducation written especially for you. It's a great way to be part of this journey I started back in 2016. And now for this week's Buzz...

Our Original Raisin Bread is Back!

When Random Acts of Breadness first opened in 2021 we featured our organic Traditional Country Sourdough and our organic Cinnamon Raisin Maple Walnut Sourdough. After a few months it became apparent that some people couldn't eat walnuts so we switched to pecans and retired the original Walnut ingredient.

Well... I took another look at this situation and decided to bring the "OG" Walnut version of this recipe back again! You see, walnuts have a stronger flavor than pecans; banana nut bread is almost always made with walnuts and they have an earthy flavor that complements the sweetness of the bananas.

Same here with our Cinnamon Raisin Maple Walnut bread.

Will we be retiring the Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan bread? Probably not. We'll alternate between the two nuts and see what our customers say.

Whichever variation you prefer, both of these loaves make an awesome French Toast!

Fired Up for Rustic Crust!

OUR TRADITIONAL COUNTRY LOAVES ON THE LEFT AND OUR NEW RUSTIC CRUST LOAVES ON THE RIGHT

The "Bread Angels" have taught me many lessons. The most recent was during a particularly busy time at the bakery, a batch of Country Loaves was left in the oven for about 15 minutes too long. I thought we'd ruined those dozen loaves (they were pretty dark on the top and the bottom), but upon letting them cure, I was surprised that they were still quite soft and tasty inside. The big difference was that the crust was crispier and had a wood-fired, carmelized flavor that some people prefer. I remembered that Tartine bakery in San Francisco (and in DTLA as The Manufactory) made their bread that way.

So I decided to give samples of this "rustic" bread to customers to see what they had to say. Surprisingly, almost half of them actually preferred the darker, crispier bread and we sold out of that first batch in no time!

So now we're making these Rustic Crust Sourdough loaves available alongside our original signature Country Loaf.

Come taste a sample and tell us what you think!

Happy (and Healthy) Hallah-days!

WE ONLY MAKE A FEW OF THESE EACH WEEK SO ORDER YOURS ON LINE OR CALL US TO RESERVE YOUR CHALLAH!

Breadness customer raves are in about our organic artisan Sourdough Challah (or Hallah) Bread, the most common being, "I can't believe how sweet it tastes!" and "I just pull a knob off and dip it in butter... delicious!" And, of course, "Once we started, we couldn't stop eating it!"

Let's take these up one at a time:

We don't know why this braided bread tastes sweeter than our Traditional Country Loaves; this Challah is made from the exact same dough we use to make our sourdough batards so there's no sugar, honey or eggs used like in traditional Challah. I just stretch the proofed batard dough out into 4 long ropes, braid them then bake them. The baking times and temperatures are a bit different, but other than that... it must be the Bread Angels at work again!
Challah is made to be pulled apart. Grabbing a knob of this bread and pulling it out of the loaf is a satisfying experience. Dipping the knobs in butter or olive oil seals the deal!
As for wanting to eat the whole loaf in one night, well, that's been a problem for all of our breads! Early on I put on our Breadness Tip Cards "try and limit your portion to 1 or 2 slices per day." Of course, once the bread leaves the bakery there's not much I can do...

Very limited quantity of these so order on line or call 818-562-7303 to reserve your Challah today!

Not Eggsactly...

This is not a story I wanted to tell but we rely on using the finest ingredients we can in all of our baked-from-scratch items. So when I heard that the Vital Farms Organic Eggs we've been using from the beginning were tested and found not to be what was represented on the carton, I dug deeper.

First, I didn't know anything about "pasture-raised" eggs until I read The Plant Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry in 2017. That's when I learned the difference between regular, cage-free, free-range and pasture-raised. I won't go into all the details (there are plenty of YouTube videos that explain it well) but pasture-raised are supposed to be the best as each chicken is given a minimum of 108 square feet of space to forage outdoors, eating their natural diet of bugs and whatever else chickens like to eat. Additionally, that pastured area is changed every day so that the chickens are foraging in fresh territory, not the same place every day which eventually goes barren.

That kind of hen management is expensive, which is why Vital Farms eggs cost as much as they do. But there's a very important additional piece of information that affects the nutritional makeup of eggs: supplemental feed. You see, in the case of high-production egg farms, chickens don't get enough bugs in the ground to survive, so they are given supplemental feed. And if you buy eggs certified as organic, then the feed these birds get has been certified organic.

But what is in that supplemental feed? It turns out that most egg farms use corn and soy in that feed. And if you know what Dr. Gundry says in his groundbreaking book, "you're eating what the animals ate."

Since chickens don't have 4 stomachs like cows do, whatever they are fed ends up in their eggs. And when fed corn and soy, that means higher amounts of PUFAs (poly-unsaturated Fatty Acids) which are high in omega 6 and should be avoided.

So what happened with Vital Farms? This video is one among many that have turned up since the truth came out about how and when Vital Farms went south. As soon as I saw what happened, I immediately sought to replace Vital Farms with real, honest, pasture-raised eggs.

My first choice was Harvest Gathering Farm in Ventura (they have a stand at the Burbank Farmers Market on Saturdays). I've been buying their pastured meats for several years but never tried their eggs. These eggs come from chickens who really do have plenty of pasture to graze on and their supplemental feed is from vegetable compost with no corn or soy!

The only problem is there are a limited number of these eggs available on a weekly basis so I might not be able to get these eggs all the time.

So I've been investigating more pastured egg sources. Now that I know what to look for and what to ask, I feel confident that our baked goods that use eggs will be better than ever. And even though these eggs from local farms cost even more than Vital Farms, we won't be raising the prices of our muffins and cookies that use them.

I hope this article has raised your awareness of how the best intentions for creating better and healthier foods can be usurped when a company goes public and profits matter more than purpose.

Here's what we have at the bakery for you this week...

(Availability subject to change - visit breadness.com to see what's currently available)

— Organic Artisan Sourdough Country Loaf (fresh or frozen)
(Boule, Batard, XL Batard, XL Challah, Petite, Bread Bowls, Slider Buns/Rolls)

— Organic Artisan Cinnamon Raisin Maple Walnut Sourdough
(Boule, Petite)

— Organic Artisan Chocolate Sourdough (Boule, Petite)

— Organic Artisan Sourdough Flatbread Crisps
(Naked, Tuscan Herb, Smoked, Chocolate)

— Organic/non-GMO Blueberry Muffins (Grain-free, Sugar-free)

— Organic/non-GMO Breadness Brûlée Muffins (Gluten-neutral, Sugar-free)

— Organic/non-GMO Choco Chip Chookies (Grain-free, Sugar-free)

— Organic/non-GMO Sourdough Shortbread (Gluten-neutral, Sugar-free)

— Organic/non-GMO Strawberry Sorbet (Sugar-free)

— Chocolate Chill (Gluten-free, Sugar-free, Keto, Vegan)

And our awesome lineup of Extra Virgin Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars, along with our Butters, Garlic Bread Spreadness, Cheese, Tapenades, Nut Butter, Fruit Spreads/Jams and Sourdough Pasta and Tomato Products from Italy!

Random Acts of Breadness is located at 2214 West Magnolia Blvd in Burbank, 2-1/2 blocks east of Buena Vista on the south side of the street.

We're open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 12 to 6pm, and Sunday 11am to 4pm.

Order at breadness.com/#shop, or via DoorDash. We also ship locally and nationwide.

Happy (and Healthy) Hallah-days!

From our hands to yours...

Randall Michael Tobin
Artisan Baker/Chef
Breadness.com

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2214 West Magnolia Blvd.
Unit A
Burbank, CA 91506
USA

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