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I'm posting this bread hoping that it will inspire other TFL members to bake it, because it is a great bread. It took me a long time till I decided to make it and now I regret that I haven't done it sooner. Full of flavor, easy to make and friendly with rye beginners, it is light and healthy and for my taste, it's perfect.

I followed mr. Hamelman's formula from "BREAD" page 194, with few modifications:

- I didn't used commercial yeast.

- I increased hydration from 68% to almost 73%.

A lovely weekend on the North Coast of California. 

First, the Fauna.  Our yard seems to be the pasture of choice for our neighborhood herd of Mule Deer.  And the herd has grown in the last few weeks.  We’ve seen at least three new babies (we refer to them, collectively, as “The Fonz”).  And the young buckeroos were particularly rowdy this weekend.  After the pictures below were taken, a large group assembled not 20 yards from our porch (perhaps drawn by the smell of Focaccia buns baking; more likely by the dandelions in bloom).

For this bread you make your own starter using some WW flour, ground cumin, a tsp of milk and some water that is built up over 3-4 days.  sweetbird did a similar boule that shows how to make it here:

 http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27528/joe-ortiz-pain-de-campagne-wonderful

Finally, I have made the videos I have been promising. I hope these will illustrate my process, and help those who have not yet been able to make this dough work for them. I have simplified the process, and made it easier on your beloved mixers!

First, to build the dough, you will need both your paddle attachment and your hook attachment. Here is the ingerdients list:

Flour: 450 grams (100%)

Water - at room temperature: 360 grams (80%)

Salt: 9 grams (2%)

Yeast: 8 grams (1.75%)

These are quite possibly the best thing I've ever made from my sourdough starter, and by far the quickest and easiest.  Crumpets are my most favorite storebought baked item - they are soft & chewy with big, open holes on the top for the butter and honey to seep into.  They are wonderful, and I had almost given up hope of making my own when I happened across this old recipe on the King Arthur website.

It worked like a charm!

I love everything and anything that has pecans in it.  While I was at a local market called Wild by Nature which is similar to Whole Foods I stumbled on some pecan butter, and a couple of new grains I have not seen before.

Hello from Sunny Northumberland [a pleasant but temporary change!]

I drove down to visit my brother, all too briefly, on Tuesday.   He had some wood for me; a lot of wood, very dry and cut in good-sized lengths for my oven!

We filled the car up with all this wood, then he reminded me about a steam-stripper he was looking onto, which he showed me how to turn into a device to use in my bread oven.   So, I brought that back to Powburn too!

Hello everyone,

We were feeding the yeast water on the 3th of July and didn’t want to throw any YW away.  With the 4th of July the next day and knowing it would only be my apprentice and I for dinner that night, we decided to have some rib eye steak kabobs, veggie kabobs and garam masala rice and beans.

Hey you all!

I've just baked the sourdough rye with raisins and walnuts from Mr. Hamelman's "Bread" book (pg. 208) and I am very happy with it. I really enjoy its texture given by the combination the nuts and fruits with the very spongy crumb. It is not sour at all and the crust is very "crusty". Also, the rye taste is evident, despite of this being a 50% rye bread and despite the other flavors. A very good, very tasty bread, in my opinion.