When Ellen King, owner of Hewn Bakery in Evanston, moved from the west coast to Chicago, she missed one thing in particular: the bread.
After seven years in the food industry as a classically trained chef, Ellen moved to Chicago, where she began baking her own “west coast bread.”
“I missed the bread, so I started making my own bread at home with the influence of my mentors in Seattle,” said Ellen. “Great bread really starts with the ingredients, and farmers’ markets are testimonial to the freshness and quality of the bread you bake.”
She was inspired by the chefs who cherry-picked fresh produce and ingredients from farmers’ markets (Seattle is renowned for its Pike’s Place Market).
So she brought that culinary tradition with her to the Midwest, and started an underground bread club, where she and an exclusive invite-only group would bake bread together and have the bread delivered to their doorsteps.
But then the number of members rose to 100 and Ellen realized that it was beginning to get harder to keep up.
So a former underground bread club member turned business partner, Julie Matthei, suggested that she open her own bakery.
So she did exactly that.
Hewn Bakery embodies just what you would expect: a commitment to 100 percent organic ingredients and fresh batches of rustic bread everyday. All ingredients used at Hewn are sourced locally, from mills and farmers Ellen trusts.
Naturally, Ellen’s investment in sourcing her bread from natural and organic ingredients comes from her love of farmers’ markets and belief in healthy eating. She even hosted a class with Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark called “Food as Medicine,” where she gave cooking demonstrations.
This week Ellen will be showing us how to mix bread while offering samples of her signature Rosemary bread.
“A lot of people think that flour isn’t supposed to have a smell, but good natural flour does have a smell that you’ll notice,” said Ellen.
Today Ellen serves on the Evanston Environment Board and is a member of Chefs Collaborative, Women Chefs and Restauranteurs and the Bread Bakers Guild of America.
We hope to see you at the Friends’ tent this Saturday!
When we asked Hewn Bakery’s chef Ellen King what her favorite recipe of the moment was, she told us it was the sourdough coffee cake.
As Ellen puts it, “It’s not sour, but more like tart and is a healthy and hearty option for coffee cakes.”
1cup sourdough starter
1⁄3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1cup all-purpose flour
3⁄4 cup sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1teaspoon cinnamon
(For the topping)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon flour
Why shop at a farmers’ market?
Access to fresh, locally grown foods, for starters. Farmers’ markets have fruits and vegetables at the peak of the growing season. This means the produce is at its freshest and tastes the best.
And the best part of all of this? Is that Evanstonians have one in their neck of the woods!
Fresher Food
Most of the produce you buy at the grocery store is picked before it is ripe and transported as much as 2,000 miles before it reaches the store. In contrast, farmers market produce is generally ripened on the plant, picked right before the market, and transported less than 50 miles. This makes farmers market produce fresher. You can find a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables at farmers markets that are packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
Endless Greens, a vendor at the Evanston market, for example, has family members pick the herbs and flowers that they bring to the market every Saturday. According to Gareth Proctor, owner of Endless Greens, all of the herbs and flowers they sell at the market are grown locally and by the owners themselves.
Henry’s Farm also grows their organic produce directly on their farm. As owner Henry Brockman puts it, “My farm and therefore everything I grow on it is 100% USDA certified organic. What that means is that I follow all of the USDA standards for organic production and that I undergo an inspection every year to certify that I am indeed following the rules.
Personal contact
Most often, you get to talk directly to the people who grew the produce. They can tell you how they grew it, what fertilizers or pesticides they used, what variety they planted, and can answer other questions you may have. Our Evanston vendors are extremely friendly!
But how do I know if I’m picking the right kind of produce?
Choose ripe, unblemished produce- Farmers’ market produce is often softer and juicier than grocery store produce — many farmers’ market varieties are bred for flavor, not for quantity and long transportation times. Keep an eye out for bruised and broken skin. If the skin is broken, the surface of the produce is slimy, or there are soft spots on a portion of the fruit or vegetable, it has been bruised and will spoil more rapidly. You should choose produce that is free of all signs of bruising and spoilage.
Choose what you will use- Fresh produce from a farmers market may have a shorter shelf life than the lettuce you buy pre-bagged at the store. Purchase only what you can use or preserve within a few days.
Recipe courtesy of Lake Breeze Organics, a vendor at the downtown market every Saturday
Ingredients:
2 bags of baby kale
1 apple – shredded
1/2 cup of raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
For the dressing:
Puree 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon sugar or agave
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in blender
Directions:
1. In large bowl, toss the baby kale, raisins and walnuts.
2. Pour dressing over salad just before serving.
-Recipe courtesy of Vikki Proctor and 101 Cookbooks.
Serves 2-4 people.
Ingredients
1/3 cup / 80 ml buttermilk
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
fine grain sea salt
1 bunch of asparagus
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large handful of torn bread
2-3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
edible herb flowers (optional)
Directions:
1. Make the dressing first. Whisk together the buttermilk, olive oil, mustard, vinegar, half of the scallions, and a couple of pinches of salt. Taste and adjust if needed, before setting aside.
2. Trim the tough ends from the asparagus, and cut into ½-inch segments, on a bias.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet, add the bread, toss until well coated, then toast, tossing now and then, until golden. Transfer to a paper or clean linen towel.
4. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, salt generously, and blanch the asparagus until just tender – 20 seconds or so if your asparagus is thin, a bit longer depending on thickness.
5. Drain, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking if you’d like to serve this cold. Alternately, transfer the asparagus directly to the serving bowl without the cold water rinse, if you’d like it warm.
6. Add the remaining scallions, a good splash of the dressing, toss well, and decide if you’d like more dressing.Finish off the recipe with sesame seeds, toasted bread, and a sprinkling of herb blossoms if you have them.
