Last weekend's baking, or "Let Ken do it."

This past weekend, I attended a conference in Portland, Oregon, so I wasn't home to bake. I want to assure you my suffering was not intolerable. Susan and managed a long-deferred visit to Ken's Artisan Bakery. 

After checking the hours and offerings online, we went to Ken's for lunch on Sunday, before heading to PDX for our flight home. The bakery was in active production, and new batches of breads and pastries were being brought out for sale and consumption more or less continuously. Ken's offered about a half dozen different breads, a variety of viennoiserie and a few pastries and cookies. They offer sandwiches, salads and soup to eat in or take out. Oh, also Stumptown coffee, including espresso. The work areas are open to the ordering line and tables. There are huge windows on two sides of the corner building which were wide open where we sat on a gorgeous, sunny day.

Here are a few photos:

I had a tuna sandwich on Ken's Multigrain Bread, and we shared a salad that came with some sliced baguette. The multigrain bread was very good. I'm quite sure it was a sourdough bread spiked with some commercial yeast. It had a really crunchy crust and nice tender crumb with some mixed seeds. The baguette was super classical Parisian baguette. I'd bet anything it was sur poolish. It had a thin, crackly crust with a very sweet, wheaty crumb that was quite open. Here's a crumb photo of Ken's "Parisian Baguette:"

I (sort of) shared a Canelé and a cherry and strawberry crostata. Both pastries were very good. We'll have to return - hopefully soon - to try Ken's croissants, which have a stellar reputation and did look delicious. 

So, I'm back home ... with the levain ripe and ready to make Pain de Campagne. From FWSY, of course.

David