Quote of the Week:
"I brought two loaves to my family in Santa Barbara over the holidays and raved all about your bakery. Everyone kept talking about how incredible it was! Sincerely, the best sourdough I’ve had in my life." — A.S.
NOTE: If this is your first Breadness Buzz, or if you've been part of our tribe but missed earlier posts, visit the Breadness Buzz Archive here and catch up on this content written especially for you. It's a great way to meet like-minded artisan sourdough aficionados and be part of this journey I started back in 2016. And now for this week's Buzz...
from Nina Simone to Michael Buble to Random Acts of Breadness...
While considering what to write about for this first Breadness Buzz of the new year, the lyrics of this Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse song from the 1964 musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd," made famous by Nina Simone in 1965 and again by Michael Bublé in 2005, came to mind. It's a new dawn and a new day for us as we are now open on Thursdays, which means our team are in the bakery 7 days a week, doing the time-honored dough work that makes our artisan breads uniquely special.
And the bakery has taken on a new life as we have grown organically these past nearly 2-1/2 years. Baking on Wednesday now opens the door to shipping 2-Day Air without having to freeze the bread first and ship on Mondays, like we have been doing for our midwest and east coast customers (with few exceptions, UPS 2-Day Air does not deliver on Saturdays). With our breads, it's imperative that they arrive no later than 2 days out of the oven. Fortunately, we can ship from our location to San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Palm Springs, Orange County, Ojai, LA County, etc., and Breadness will arrive usually in 1 day via UPS Ground service! That's optimum as by the time Breadness arrives at the recipient's door, it's as fresh as we serve/sell it at the bakery. Something to keep in mind if you have friends/family you wish to send a Random Act of Breadness to!
New Media: Randall Michael Tobin featured on Success Podcast!
Armando Salcido and his wife Vicky own Success Tutoring, right across the street from John Burroughs High School stadium. I drive by it every day on my way to the bakery. And Armando's been to the bakery a few times. Recently he told me about a podcast series he was doing and asked if I'd like to be a featured guest. Of course, I agreed and the result is a comprehensive interview that covers just about everything you might want to know about how I went from being a multi-award-winning music composer, songwriter, engineer and video editor to opening an artisan sourdough bakery on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank (that's ranked #1 for Best Bread in Burbank on yelp; recipient of DoorDash's Most Loved Award and yelp's "People Love Us on yelp" 2023 award). Both the studio and the bakery are doing very well; creating music and food - what's not to like?!
We recorded 1:40 of interview with me on camera at my recording studio (see photo) which Armando edited down to an hour (which is still longer than most of his episodes which run 20-30 minutes in length). But once you start watching, that hour will go by in a flash and you won't even know it! (I've seen several videos that are like that; interesting, engaging, enlightening.) Click/tap on the image above or the link(s) below. Available on YouTube (video) and Buzzsprout (audio).
YouTube: https://youtu.be/xJefa1v2VJg
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2161241/episodes/14133404
And SHOUTOUT LA did a feature story on me and my many hats here (click/tap to read):
Breadness Bowl Weather...
Recent rains and winds have brought that rare winter chill to the City of Angels. This is actually a good thing for all of us as it means it's time for hot comfort foods and getting cozy. Our artisan Breadness Bowls make for memorable meals when you add your favorite chowder, chili, or stew to the hollowed-out sourdough loaf and enjoy it either one bowl per person, or sharing a bowl a la romantic tiki drink style. What's fun is when you finish the first helping and scrape a bit of the soggy crumb, it's time to add another ladleful and start all over again!
The above is a pot of my signature Seafood Chowdah - Dairy-free, Lectin-free, amazing.
Here's the recipe...
Seafood Chowdah in Sourdough Bowls
Serves 8 (14 oz portion per person)
Prepare the Breadness Bowls
All loaves need to come to room temperature before they can be used.
Take bread bowls out of the freezer at least 6 hours before meal time. Allow at least 5 hours to thaw: Remove the outer sealed bag and set it aside (don’t throw it away as it is BPA-free and can be used again); Place each loaf, now in its own sealed zipper bag, on the counter.
Meanwhile, prepare the Chowdah starting 2 hours before you plan to serve it.
Prepare the Chowdah
Two hours before starting this chowdah, take shrimp, Mahi-Mahi and bacon from freezer and let thaw at room temperature.
Prep the sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic and mushrooms.
In a 4-quart stockpot, put sweet potatoes, carrots, and celery in enough Crytal Geyser Alpine Spring water to cover and bring to a boil.
Turn down heat to medium. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Do not drain.
Turn off burner, cover with lid and let the pot sit.
While the vegetables are boiling, saute bacon until crisp in a frying pan over medium heat. Drain and remove bacon from pan, place in a glass dish for later.
Retain bacon grease in saucepan.
Add the onion and garlic to the pan containing bacon grease and saute for two minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to saute until onions are soft. Push onion mixture to the outside ring of the pan.
Add drained clams and saute lightly, about 3 minutes, do not overcook. Pour onion/clam mixture into the stockpot and stir.
With scissors, cut bacon into 1/2" pieces and add to stockpot.
Add diced jicama to the stockpot.
Turn the stockpot burner on medium-high.
Add the cubed Mahi-Mahi to stockpot and simmer to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally.
Add Shrimp pieces to stockpot and simmer to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally. Turn off burner.
Breadness Bowls
At this point, turn oven on and set temp to 350 degrees.
Chowdah
Shake the can of coconut cream really well, then open the top.
In the bacon frying pan, over medium-low heat, combine olive oil with arrowroot powder using non-metal whisk. Gradually whisk in coconut cream.
Continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Do not boil!
Add the reserved clam nectar and seasonings to stockpot. Stir.
Add the coconut cream sauce and stir to blend.
Breadness Bowls
With the Breadness Bowls now thawed, preheat oven to 350 degrees and place Bowls on a couple of cookie sheets (or shallow pans) and warm them for 10 minutes.
When ready, remove Bowls and place on dinner plates or wide soup bowls.
Use a pointed, serrated knife (like a good steak knife) and cut a 4 to 5 inch circle from the top of the crust down to near the bottom. Carefully remove the top cap, retaining about an inch of bread on the cap. Scoop out the rest of the circle leaving about an inch of bread at the bottom. (Serve the scooped-out center alongside the Bowl.)
Ladle your Chowdah into the Breadness Bowls and enjoy!
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If you make the chowdah recipe above, take some photos (or video) of the end result before you dig in. Send to rmt@breadness.com
This Week's Bread...
Here's what were bakin' this week:
> Artisan Sourdough Country Loaves (Full-size and Petite)
> Artisan Sourdough Bread Bowls
> Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan Sourdough Loaves (Full-size and Petite)
> Artisan Sourdough Breadness Crisps (Naked, Tuscan Herb, Smoked, Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan)
Order the above (and any of our other artisan products) at breadness.com/#shop. If a product is visible in the online shop, it's in stock. If you don't see a product in the online shop, it's sold out.
Contact Info...
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). Come to the bakery and sample our artisan wares, or order on line for bakery pickup, or have Breadness delivered or shipped to your door. You may also order by phone at 818-562-7303 and pay when you come pick it up. We're open Thursday, Friday & Saturday 12 to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Reminder: If you (or someone you wish to gift) live within 120 miles of Los Angeles, we can ship on Wednesday or Thursday (via UPS Ground) and in most cases your Breadness Box will arrive on Thursday or Friday. Place your order before Wednesday morning here.
Here's to a Very Happy (and Healthy) 2024 for you and those you love...
Randall Michael Tobin
Artisan Baker/Chef, PC, ACF
Breadness.com
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2214 West Magnolia Blvd., Unit A, Burbank, CA, 91506, United States of America
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