Milling About With Grist and Toll

Creating Artisanal Breads from Fresh Local Flour

In these gluten free/grain free/ paleo-crazy-diet/ days a girl sometimes craves a fresh baked, buttery croissant, or some crusty sour dough peasant bread with a hunk of cheese. What does she do? She finds a kindred spirit in Nan Kohler who opened up the Grist and Toll mill that uses local wheat to create all kinds of flour. Nan had a 2,500 pound grain mill shipped from Austria to Pasadena so she could create the perfect loaf of bread. In Europe most bakeries mill their own flour, and now we have a mill that can make flour from local organic wheat and spelt growers. Right now in America the corporate conglomerates are attempting to control all the grain processing. Nan has made a statement by having the beautiful old world wooden mill brought here to our fair city. This mill uses a process that preserves the unique characteristics of the grain Kohler grinds, and differentiating between those grain types is a central tenet of Grist & Toll’s philosophy. “There’s a lot more flavor than you’re expecting from wheat, and there is actually a diversity of flavor,” Kohler says. She works closely with farmers to source her identity-preserved local and heritage grains, the current selection of which includes Sonoroa soft white whole grain flour, organic spelt, organic whole rye, teff, faro, whole grain polenta, and Triple IV hard red wheat. (Modern Farmer). What a special thing it is to open a bag of freshly milled flour, and know it was milled that day rather than months earlier. There is also a sweet store front at Grist and Mill that sells all our favorites like California grown olive oil and Sqirl Preserves. There are also numerous baking workshops and lessons at the mill, where we can learn how to make holiday pies and artisanal breads from local bakers.

For more local shoppes and seasonal recipes, see The Local Rose.





A recipe below for a delicious spelt galette.

Ingredients:
Spelt Rough Puff Pastry Yield: 2 8-in galettes
3 cups (13.5 oz) Spelt
2 tbsp sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp kosher salt
12 oz (3 sticks, 1 1⁄2 cups) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1⁄4” cubes, chilled again until firm
1⁄2 cup ice water 2 tsp lemon juice
Method:
Combine flour, sugar and salt in food processor, pulsing once to combine.
Add half of butter chunks and pulse 5 times until butter is in dime-sized pieces. Add remaining butter and process another 5-6 times, breaking butter into smaller pieces and coating with flour. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Combine ice water and lemon juice. Drizzle half of the liquid over the flour. Toss with a rubber spatula until just combined. Add more liquid one tbsp at a time until dough comes together when squeezed.
Turn dough, which will be very shaggy, out onto work surface. Fraissage the dough by dragging small portions of dough across the counter under the heel of your hand. Alternately, use a rolling pin to roll the butter into the flour and create long flaky pieces. The motion should be quick and brisk so that the butter stays as cold as possible. Pieces of butter will stick to the rolling pin. It’s okay, just scrape off the pieces, toss back into the flour mixture, rub some additional flour onto the rolling pin and continue.
*At this point, your goal is to quickly flatten some of the bigger particles of butter into the flour. You will not have a cohesive dough. The dough will start to come together as you perform the folds.
Gather dough and press into a 6” rectangle. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
Begin Folds:
Place chilled dough onto lightly floured work surface. Dust lightly with flour. Roll into a 15×10 inch rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds as if folding a letter. Wrap again in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
Repeat 2 more times. and chill for one more hour. Divide chilled dough into 2 equal portions and proceed to rolling and baking or wrap and freeze for up to 1 month.
Gather dough and press into a 6” rectangle. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.
To bake a galette, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On a piece of parchment large enough for your baking sheet, roll out one portion of dough into a 10-in round, about 1⁄4 inch thick. Transfer to parchment paper and galette dough onto baking sheet. Place prepared fruit or vegetables in the center (do not overfill or mound too much – you want your filling to bake quickly), leaving a 1 to 2-inch border, and decoratively pleat or fold up the edges around the filling. Bake on the middle rack in your oven until filling is cooked and pastry is golden brown, from 35-45 minutes.