099 The Amazing Sourdough Breads of Guy Frenkel

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Guy Frenkel is one of the most talented bakers I’ve met. If you’ve seen his whole grain, sourdough breads in Instagram (@Ceorbread) and Facebook you’ll know why I had to interview him. During the podcast we talk about his unique baking techniques such as yeast water, stencils and colored doughs. Even if you’re not a baker you’ll be inspired by Guy’s enthusiasm, persistence and creativity. Here are the links Guy mentions:

Guy’s social media: @Ceorbread in Instgram, Ceor Bread Facebook, Guy Frenkel in Facebook.

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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How to Roast Coffee Photonovel

coffee roasting picYesterday afternoon, on a whim, I decided to experiment with a new/old educational format: the photonovel. It’s something you see more in Latin America and Italy than in English speaking countries. I thought I’d use this genre to tackle one of my favorite homesteading activities: stove-top coffee roasting. You can download my brief coffee roasting photonovel here (PDF). It’s a rough draft but if you like it I’ll do more, and maybe turn one into a telenovela.

And, please, try roasting coffee sometime. It’s my favorite activity here at Root Simple labs!

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Learn How To Bake Sourdough Bread with Dana Morgan February 18th

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Want to learn how to bake your own tasty sourdough loaves? Take a class with the Los Angeles Bread Baker’s amazing instructor Dana Morgan on February 18th at the community oven in Westchester. Not to be missed!

This small class will teach you the basics of Tartine-style sourdough bread baking. Come learn about making and maintaining sourdough starter and how to mix, divide, shape and time the fermentation of amazing artisan bread inspired by Chad Robertson at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Prepare your sourdough in class and bake it at home the next day. Ingredients for your bread will be provided.

Head over to the Los Angeles Bread Baker’s Meetup to sign up.

097 Mill Your Own Flour with a Mock Mill

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First off, I want to thank Eric Rochow of Garden Fork for subbing for Kelly and I on the previous podcast (episode 96). Thank you Eric! And I hope everyone listening to our podcast will also subscribe to the Garden Fork Podcast and YouTube channel. Please leave Eric some good reviews too! As for Kelly, she’s doing better and I hope to have her on the next episode of the podcast to talk about her aortic dissection adventure.

On this special live episode of the Root Simple podcast I interview Paul Lebeau, who came all the way from Germany to demonstrate an interesting new home flour mill called the Mock Mill. The Mock Mill was designed by Wolfgang Mock who has, in his career, created what I think are the best home grain mills you can buy. What’s interesting about the Mock Mill is that it’s a stone mill that attaches to a Kitchen Aid mixer. This greatly reduces the cost and footprint of the mill.

I’ve been milling my own flour for several years now with another mill designed by Wolfgang Mock and, like Paul, I think that everyone who bakes–bread, cakes, cookies, anything–should have a home mill. The flour you get is many orders of magnitude better, plus you can make flour with all kinds of exotic grains.

This live event was made possible thanks to a number of people–Roe Sie hosted the event at his shop, the King’s Roost (Roe was a guest on episode 58 of the podcast), an amazing baker named Guy Frenkel, who I hope to have on the podcast soon, Leyna Lightman and the Los Angeles Bread Bakers, a Meetup group that I co-run.

Some other folks in the audience: farmers Larry Kandarian and Alex Weiser, Sherry Mandell from the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project, bakers Rose Lawrence, who teaches classes at the King’s Roost and Dana Morgan, who teaches classes at the Westchester Community Oven at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church (sign up for the Los Angeles Bread Bakers Meetup to find out about those classes). And a big thank you to Sharon for running the mixing board for me!

If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

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Discover the Magic of Home Milling this Saturday

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In my opinion, way, way too many home bakers don’t know about the benefits of milling your own flour. If you’re in LA this weekend and are interested in getting more intimate with your flour, there’s a fun event at the King’s Roost featuring Paul LeBeau, who will be debuting a revolutionary new home grain mill called the MockMill. The MockMill attaches to your Kitchen Aid and is considerably less expensive than other home mills. Please come, if just to taste what bread made from freshly mixed four tastes like. I’ll be interviewing Paul for the podcast live in front of an audience. Plus you’ll have a chance to meet Guy Frenkel, the baking genius behind this Instagram account. Here’s the 411:

Home Grain Milling Raffle, Meet and Greet at The King’s Roost

Southern California Farmers, Millers and Bakers are meeting up in Silverlake to learn about home grain milling with Paul LeBeau, Managing director of the German mill maker, Wolfgang Mock. We are raffling 2 MockMills along with various locally grown whole grains donated by California farmers. While there is no charge for raffle tickets or the event, we will sell raffle tickets for a third mill and grain basket to benefit the California Grain Campaign, the effort to require 20% of farmers market baked goods to be made with local whole grains by the year 2020.

When and Where:

Saturday, January 28 th , 2-5pm
The King’s Roost
3732 Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90026
www.kingsroost.com

Organizers:
Guy Frenkel of Ceor Bread, Erik Knutzen of Root Simple, Leyna Lightman, and Roe Sie

Who
Local farmers, millers, and bakers will be there to meet with Paul LeBeau. Paul is the managing director of German based home mill manufacturing company Wolfgang Mock. They have designed an affordable, compact, stone mill attachment for the Kitchen-Aid and, like Roe Sie, the owner of The King’s Roost, they believe that every home should have a grain mill.

Why
To share the benefits of milling fresh flour at home. Benefits like making fresher healthier more nutritious foods for less money, while supporting the local economy, increasing food security and decreasing our impact on the environment.

Where
The King’s Roost in Silver Lake is LA’s first and only urban homesteading store and learning center. We believe it is the only brick and mortar store in the country that carries a full line of home grain mills. We provide classes and supplies not just for milling and baking, but also for chicken keeping, bee keeping, soap and candle making, brewing, fermenting, and aquaponics.

For more information contact: Roe Sie at [email protected]