This weekend was the Foodista.com International Food Bloggers Conference.  We helped out with breakfast on Saturday (gluten free and vegan items provided by Udi’s and also PCC).  I attended the same conference last year, and was able to stay for part of the day Saturday this year (missed the food photography session with Penny De Los Santos, darn it). 

It was quite interesting, being amongst people who blog for a hobby and/or a living (or a supplementary paycheck at least, it takes a lot of work to make a living from food blogging).  In a way, it looked like a classroom - rows of tables lined up with almost everyone having a laptop, and a quiet murmur of keys clicking while people took notes and ”passed notes” on twitter, etc.  Lots of really nice cameras floating around too. 

It’s nice to see so many people putting a passion for food to work in a personal and creative way.  It kind of goes back to food and its production being an integral part of community, and blogging just added another piece to that.  Every now and then, take some time to branch out in your blog reads, and find some food blogs you might like.  We’re partial to those that have information, facts and stories ourselves, not to mention wonderful photography.  If you come across something really interesting, let us know- we just might add it to our read list. 

Have a great week everyone!

This morning I saw the new veggie quiche (I’m more a chicken and broccoli guy, or Lorraine). Roasted potatoes, tomatoes and red peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and a bit of black olive, all tossed together in the quiche. The deep slice of quiche was fairly stuffed with veggies, which led to some thinking (dangerous to do in the morning, but I’d already had my coffee so I was semi-prepared).

We write a lot about our desserts, show lots of pictures of cakes, and have a little bit of local…hmmm… notoriety(?) for our twice baked almond-croissant.  Sometimes though, as with writing about flour, it’s interesting to consider the more savory side or life. 

As a bakery, we go through a lot of produce.  Quite a bit of is fresh fruit that is processed into our desserts and pastries.  While not all of our fruit is processed here, the majority of it is. In addition to fresh fruit, we get lots of fresh savory produce that we then process ourselves.  We roast potatoes and cherry tomatoes, Jane makes the ratatouille from fresh egg-plant and zucchini, tomatoes get sliced…even our pesto is made in house from fresh basil, pine nuts and garlic. 

Basically, we like our desserts to be rich, but we also like our foods to be healthy.  It’s part of our belief that the things we’ll produce best are the things we like to eat ourselves.  Fresh, whole foods just taste better, and are more fun to work with too. So I suppose you could say that, despite all evidence of the twice baked croissant, we are not just about finding new and interesting ways to use lots of butter. 

We’re really about new and interesting ways to create good food.  From bread made with flours of higher nutritional values, a quiche stuffed with freshly roasted vegetables, to pizza topped with roasted mushrooms and that perfect amount of pancetta, we’re always looking to create healthy foods and flavors that we’ll enjoy, and hope you do as well.

Speaking of, we’re on for pizzas again tonight.  Whole pizzas, baked when ordered, from 6 pm until the dough runs out.  In addition to the list from last week, we’ll have a prosciutto and fig pizza. 

Happy Friday everyone, and have a great weekend! 

Sometimes you just want to go classic.  We’ve been been baking single-serve quiche in individual tins for quite some time.  However, while rummaging through books and old recipes, Chef came across a method he used to use, namely, the classic deep-dish quiche.  It took a few tries to get the bake times and crust re-adjusted for conditions here, but in the end, we have a lovely, slice-able 8” deep-dish quiche.  It reminds me a lot of some home-style quiche made by a friend from Normandy.

So, in the more classic tradition, we’re serving slices again.  The mix we use hasn’t been changed, just some adjustment in the baking and the crust.  It’s quite an attractive savory dish. We think you’ll like it.  The one shown is broccoli, chicken and cheddar.  Given that it’s a little cool and gray today, a warm slice of quiche might be a nice lunch.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

When flour is your main ingredient for at least half your products, you get a little interested in its pricing.  When your vendors talk about price forecasts, you listen, and ask questions.  From that, a couple of our vendors produce pricing sheets and forecasts, and it really shows the interconnectedness of our world- especially in light of the fact that the US is a net exporter of wheat (most bulk food, really, if I recall correctly). 

Wheat and therefore flour prices can fluctuate quite a bit, and end up being dependant not just on US conditions, but also global happenings as well.  For instance, drought and other conditions in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe are effecting demand for US wheat, especially as Russia has a ban on exports currently (or as of early August).  The overall global supply is quite healthy though, which has moderated fluctuations a bit. 

Falling under the category of “learn something new every day,” mild weather apparently can decrease the protein content of wheat, and that content is what makes hard-wheat (as opposed to soft) usable for yeasted and naturally leavened breads- the more gluten there is, the more a dough can trap the gasses produced by fermentation, causing the bread to rise properly. The last couple of growing seasons in the US have been mild and produced less really high-quality high protein wheat, which has slightly driven up prices for high-protein wheat.

Further along that line- changes in the quality of the wheat supply affect the final flour, which can therefore affect the final product of a baker.  One can adjust for changes, and that’s where mixing dough becomes something of a developed craft, and not just a formulaic process.  One has to be able to feel the dough (literally) and adjust accordingly (mixing times, hydration, etc).  The maturity of the flour, the protein content of the wheat, the hummidity of the location and latent moisture content of the flour, it all affects the actual mixing process. 

I’ve sat in on mixing with Chef, Audrey and Jorge a couple of times, and each has a different approach and feel for the dough which can lead to slightly different results.  The actual, physical feel to a given dough does feel different depending on who is mixing (density, how sticky it is or isn’t, how pliable or relaxed it is, etc.). 

So, we have global, national, and down to the local bakery level all in one discussion about flour. Again, just kind of shows how interconnected things can be, especially when you start considering major crops.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! 

The West Seattle Junction Association is having it’s annual Big Bonanza Sale.  A lot of merchants will be having sales and disounts on a range of items.  Check out the WSJA’s site for more details on who is doing what.  It should be a good time, including a watergun fight and the chance to win $100 gift card. 

We’ll have our tote bags out for $3.00, and then every time you bring your bag in we’ll take 25 cents off your tab. 

If you’re coming out for pizza tonight (and tomorrow night too!), we’ll see you then.  Otherwise, come out for the bonanza tomorrow, and have a great weekend everyone!

So…we’ve had lots of questions, and I’m going to try to answer them with this post.

Pizza service will start at 6 pm tonight.  Phil will have his game face on, and Jorge has been pumping out the ciabatta, so we should have a rocking night. 

• The pizzas are our full size pizza, so the rectangular shape we take our slices out of.  For tonight, since it’s a trial run, neither the Sicilian pizza (thick crust/foccacia) nor individual slices will be available. 
• We’ll have 9 varieties, and the same price for each (right around $16 with tax, or basically 4-times the cost of a slice). 
• The varieties are set, with no substitutions. 
• Pizzas will be baked when ordered
• If we run out of dough, we run out of pizza.  If we run out of a particular ingredient, we’ll scratch it off the board. 
• Assuming all goes well, starting next week you’ll be able to pre-order with 48 hrs notice, similar to our other products.
• We will not take same day orders or any kind of hold. 

So, on to the good stuff- what pies are we offering tonight? 

• Mushroom Ragu (house made)
• Prosciutto and fresh Fig
• House made Meatball
• The Great White Pizza (garlic sauce and mixed cheese)
• Basil Pesto with Black Olives
• Ratatouille (house made)
• Pork Peperata (house made)
• Pepperoni
• Spicy Sausage.

We’ll probably rotate some of the varieties from week to week.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone out tonight! 

Katerina’s friend, Gale Reeves, stopped in to visit and to tour the bakery.  In the back and forth of arranging, I started reading her blog, and looking at her photos.  The more I read and looked, the more I thought it might be fun to have someone else write about what they saw here. We see a lot about the food, but not a lot of the outsider’s perspective on production. She lucked into a day when we were hitting our afternoon groove…  Check out her blog for more of her tour of Seattle, and also find all the photos she took here:  http://www.studio1014photo.com/nouveau/

Picture a beautiful Seattle summer sky and a tree-lined sidewalk, behind which the brown awning of Bakery Nouveau peeked.  I stepped through the wooden-glass door around 2PM and saw a lengthy line of patrons.  Moving to a corner to wait and watch, people continued to enter the bakery, and gaze into the cases, and contemplate their choices.  Would they choose a generous slice of rich chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse-ganache, or crème brulee, or chocolate cheesecake, or a raspberry glazed treat, or a blackberry filled pastry, or, or, or…?  I, too, was admiring the contents of the cases.  Desserts were ornamented with tiny chocolate transfers demurely displaying the bakery’s name, or with colorful macaroons of the Parisian type, or with narrow Bakery Nouveau ribbon secured to the base of the treat.  The artisan breads hung in all their golden brown glory on a rack, and the pizza-topped bread filled sheet trays in the case.

While talking with Chris (I’ll introduce you to him shortly), he stated that bakery advertising is by word-of-mouth.  I concluded that there are many out there who spread the good news about this awesome bakery at 4737 California Ave SW in Seattle, WA.  The long narrow storefront with its warmly painted walls and art of a local ‘artist of the month’ invites one to order, sit at a gleaming wooden table, relax, and savor.

My purpose in seeking out Bakery Nouveau was to visit Katerina.  I wanted to extend a ‘congratulations on your graduation from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY’ hug, and to wish her well as her career (which should be long and prosperous) had begun and ushered her into the world of retail.

As an added treat, I was allowed ‘behind the counter’ with my camera.  Chris, who has worked through various areas of bakery production and authors the bakery’s blog, welcomed me and offered some behind the scenes views of life in a bakery.  We stood near the warm ovens, and I observed employees scurrying from station to station, smoothly and efficiently.  We discussed long work hours, and scheduling employees, and managing ingredients, and limited real estate, and social networking.  I was greeted by other employees - one who was reared not 30 miles from my home town of Hornbeak, TN (That’d be Jane!- ed.).  It’s a small world.

Katerina introduced me to Chef William Leaman, the man behind the magic.  His hands were deep into a huge vat of what I assumed was cookie dough.  He dished dough with what looked like a #8 disher – those cookies would be huge!  The dough looked ‘you must taste this cookie hot-out-of-the-oven’ rich.  I instantly found myself admiring Chef.  He was working in the trenches adjacent to his employees.  At that moment, he was neither working on an elaborate sugar sculpture nor a multi-layered pastry.  He was scooping cookie dough.  I looked around 1½ hours later, and Chef continued to patiently shape cookies.  Words were not necessary; his action spoke volumes about teamwork.

Employees were moving around seamlessly between stations in a work area that had recently been reorganized.  I walked past the flour-dusted sheeter (a must in the bakery to efficiently roll large batches of dough) toward a long, wood-top table where a skilled young man cut croissants ‘by eye.’  He didn’t use a ruler to precisely measure each cut.  He swiftly rolled the pizza-cutter-looking tool at a slanted angle, and each triangle of the beautiful dough appeared to be the same size, though he did occasionally check his accuracy by weighting a portion on a simple scale.  His hands quickly and skillfully rolled the triangles into perfectly shaped croissants. Clearly, fancy tools are not always needed to produce magnificent baked items. 

 Stacked neatly against one wall were bags and bags of flour.  Chris stated that the supply would only last about a week. That was yet another affirmation of a successful business.

I moved across the room and observed another gentleman scaling chocolate cheesecake batter into foil-covered pans. He steadily moved trays and trays of cheesecakes into the oven.  As I gazed through the oven glass and watched as the cakes turned on the rotating device, I imagined just how delicious the cheesecakes would be when removed from the oven and cooled.  Some of the cheesecakes would be drizzled with a glaze and offered to customers in hefty slices.

I admired trays and trays of macaroons of various jewel tone colors.  Many were filled with a chocolate goodness, lying patiently in wait of transfer to the front counter or perhaps a couple would be used to adorn the top corner of a velvety chocolate birthday cake ordered by someone special, for someone special.

The cookie dough balls were moved into the cooler.  I wish I could have followed a couple of those to the oven!

There were huge (as in large enough to hold several soccer balls) mixer bowls all around and there were dozens of cheesecake pans hanging overhead, and there were various sizes of rings neatly organized on a wall board.  Again, I surveyed the area and thought…‘this is retail with a passion.’  The finished products that adorn the cases of the front were beautiful.  They were works of art.

I thanked everyone for their generous hospitality, appreciatively accepted a couple of samples, and ended my bakery excursion.  A few more camera-clicks outside the front door, then I ventured down the hill, toward the Seattle skyline.

As you bite into your next bakery item, take a moment to think about all the hands that worked to produce the delicacy.  Give them a silent word of thanks for their years of training, their long hours working in a hot bakery kitchen, their talent that is truly a gift from God, and their determination to give a bit of themselves to every item they create.

As I return to TN, to my home kitchen, to my small collection of neatly organized baking pans, I will remember that the romanticized idea of baking professionally is undergirded by gallons of sweat, years of hard work, and lives dedicated to a passion that will preserve the past while moving into the future.