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I have been working on Sam Fromartz's mixed yeast and levain, long ferment method for baguettes. I know Hamelman prefers the poolish preferment method and I have to say I like the aroma that comes off the poolish better than almost anything. So, I decided early this morning to start the poolish and spent the day rereading the chapters on preferment of yeasted breads in Bread.

Decades ago, my elementary school teacher Miss Yeung wrote down 'Simplicity is Beauty' in my graduation autograph book.  Even though I knew every word in this phrase, it was too complicated for a 6th grader who was then indulging in Hello Kitty and Melody dolls to fully appreciate the profound meanings behind it and I haven't given it much thought since. Today, the same phrase just dawned on me when I completed Mini Oven's 100% rye. Isn't this bread a true reflection of the message my teacher was trying to convey years ago?  It's a simple loaf made with Mini's magic ratio.

Intrigued by the beautiful Baguette's that Sam Fromartz has been baking, I continue to plod along, improving my skills at baking this simple(?) bread. The original post on his blog can be found here.

Alright as promised, here is the instructions for my Bagels.  I don't do the whole percentage thing, I am a by feel baker, so my flour measurements aren't set in stone.  First thing ya want to do is preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. reg. instant yeast (not quick rise)

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Barley malt syrup 

1 T. canola oil

Hi 

Baguette is one of my favorite breads. For long sandwiches, with a full meal or just eat fresh with butter. One of the things I like about the Baguettes that I buy from the market is the very crisp crust and a very soft interior. It cannot be eaten without making a mess. But in this case, I really don’t care.

Twice a week I spend time with children from my grandaughter's third grade class, listening to them read. Their teacher is a friend and loves to get a loaf now and again, and she asked if I would take some bread for the children and tell them about sourdough. Always eager to spread the word I decided to use some of my "discard" bread. I made a huge batch in my trusty Bosch and baked up three pan loaves for the neighbors and two large braids for the class. I brushed the tops with eggwhite and water and sprinkled on  raw sugar.

So I can't give you a recipe becuase this was kinda fly by the seat of my pants. I let my hands tell me when the dough was right and I didn't measure or weigh anything. It was kind of an accident. I made some whole wheat sourdough starter build for some whole hweat sourdough bread and left it fermenting in the fridge too long. So I decided to bust out the yeast and make a loaf of whole wheat yeast bread instead. My husnand really liked this whole grain honey wheat his mom had the other day so I went for an oatmeal honey wheat. Came out beautifully.

As some might have seen from my plea for help yesterday, the baking of this Miche did not go according to plan. It being only my third attempt at Miche making I was a bit freaked-I had looked forward to this bread so much!

The bread gods above must have been looking upon my endeavor kindly,though, because I do think it turned out just great!

Here are the points in which I deviated from the orginial recipe from the book "Bread":

-I used mature rye starter as my jumping off point for the levain