181 NORTH MAIN STREET
PORT CHESTER, NY 10573
(914) 937-9489
OWNERS: JENNIFER AND JEFFREY KOHN; BAKERS: JEFFREY KOHN AND MAMADY CISSE
People don’t just to go to The Kneaded Bread; they are devoted to The Kneaded Bread, as though this cozy Port Chester bakery were some sort of compelling, carb-driven religion. And, in a way, the Kneaded Bread bakery feels like a church with an overflowing marble altar piled high with artisanal breads, French pastries, and tall American layer cakes. For its faithful, a visit to The Kneaded Bread is a more regularly observed ritual than Sunday service; weekend mornings would not be the same without Kneaded Bread’s scones, croissants, muffins, buns, and doughnuts.
But The Kneaded Bread wasn’t always the sure bet that it looks now. Back in 1998 when Jennifer and Jeffrey Kohn debuted The Kneaded Bread in gritty Port Chester, there was no Tarry Lodge, Tarry Market, or Tarry Wines just across the street. This was before bartaco and Arrosto, and before the Capitol Theater. Port Chester was just a tough innerring suburb with serious inner-city problems. It took the Kohns’ foresight to see the value in Port Chester’s pristine nineteenth-century urban architecture, which had been left untouched thanks to the preservation power of poverty. It took their intelligence to observe that, though rents are low in Port Chester, the town is virtually surrounded by some of the richest diners in the suburbs—and we’re talking that serious Greenwich, Connecticut, and Rye, New York, kind of rich. Finally, it took a gamble to think that these customers would venture to Port Chester to buy artisanal bread—which is a luxury and not a necessity (plus you might find a reasonable facsimile closer to home).
Amazingly it all paid off—and in spades. Once locals got hooked on The Kneaded Bread’s quality, they could never look at a supermarket loaf again. Even better, The Kneaded Bread was a Port Chester pioneer that paved the way for other food and entertainment businesses. This little temple to artisanal baked goods showed that Port Chester could become a dining mecca.
(YIELDS 2 PULLMAN LOAVES, 2 POUNDS EACH)
For the levain:
2 ounces flour
2 ounces water
For the bread:
3 ounces flax seed
3 ounces sesame seed
3 ounces millet
1 pound unbleached, unbromated patent flour
8 ounces coarse, stone-ground whole wheat flour
2 ounces levain (starter)
8 ounces clover honey
10 ounces filtered water
2 ounces salt
To make the levain: Two days before you intend to bake the bread, combine the flour and the water in a mixing bowl. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and allow the levain to ferment at room temperature for 2 days.
To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flax, sesame, and millet. Add the flours, levain, honey, and water. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl to help incorporate the flour. Add the salt. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 8 minutes. Remove the dough and place it in an oiled bowl or plastic container and cover. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1–1½ hours, or until it is double in volume.
To bake the bread: Oil two standard 2-pound Pullman loaf pans (15¾ × 3¾-inch). Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and cut it into two equal portions. Slap dough to deflate and cover with a cloth. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.
Uncover the dough and, using as little flour as possible, shape the two sections of dough into two roughly rectangular portions. Place the shaped sections into the oiled Pullman pans, cover loosely with towels, and allow dough to rise until the loaves have grown again by half their original volume, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Fill a spray bottle with water. Place the loaves in the preheated oven and immediately spray the loaves and oven with water for 5 seconds. Close the oven door and bake the bread. After 20 minutes check the loaves and rotate them (if necessary) to ensure that they are evenly baked. Continue baking the loaves for about 25 more minutes to make a total of about 45 minutes baking time. Remove the loaves from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. When cool, serve.