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I recently dusted off my old John Coltrane records, and I've been listening to them pretty much non-stop this weekend. Coltrane's one of those artists that I listen to intensely for weeks on end, before I need to pause, put the records down, and breathe a sigh of relief. For me, the intensity of the music itself seems to induce this kind of listening. Even though I'm generally partial to the fire and cinder of his late Impulse! records, "Giant Steps" is probably the record that's closest to my heart.

Sports fans are notoriously superstitious.  Whatever they do on the day of a big win somehow becomes the cause of that win, and must be repeated in order to assure the next win.  So, I guess I have to bake Babka again today, Tuesday and Wednesday or the Giants are bound to face defeat.  Well...if they don't make it to the World Series, I'll take the blame cuz one Babka bake is enough for now. Yesterday, my first attempt at Babka (Chocolate-Cinnamon-Pecan) led to a thrilling one-run win in the Giants first NLCS game against the Phils.

Pain de Campagne

This weeks bake is somewhat of a hybrid between Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough with increased Whole Grain and a formula posted by JoeVa back in January of this year for a Pane a Lievito Naturale con Segale Integrale .

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15474/pane-lievito-naturale-con-segale-integrale

I've been immobile for the past two months with sciatica. With steroid treatment and physical therapy, it's nearly completely diminished. Fortunately, the freezer was well stocked with baguettes, sourdough loaves, and a couple of Jewish Ryes at the onset--now nearly depleted. 

Yesterday afternoon, after a two month hiatus, I celebrated my new-gotten mobility by mixing dough for my Overnight Baguettes formula; shaped and baked them this morning.

I wanted to bake under a pyrex, and an ss bowl this time. The boule on the Right was under a pyrex bowl, and the Batard was under the stainless bowl.

My adapted recipe of Hamelman's Formula:

Total Formula:

Bread Flour: 1lb  (50%)

Whole Wheat Flour: 1lb (50%)

Mixed Grains: 5.8 oz (18%)

Water: 1lb , 10oz (78%)

Salt: 0.7 oz (1 T + 0.5Tsp) (2.2%)

Yeast: (1tsp) instant yeast (1%)

Honey: 1oz (1 T, 0.5tsp) (3%)

Levain:

Bread Flour: 3.8 oz (100%)

Water: 4.8 oz (125%)

Hello,

This bread is from Artisan Breads at Home by Eric Kastel. The original recipe calls for walnuts, but this is Hazelnut weekend in my kitchen.

These are hearty little loaves, loaded down with lots of goodies, and the sweetness from the apple-cranberry pairs nicely with the sourdough.

I want to try making crisps with some of the bread, as described by farine-mc on her blog:
http://www.farine-mc.com/2010/09/hazelnut-cranberry-whole-wheat-crisps.html

In this third installment of my weekly attempts to bake a passable baguette, conflict, drama, and a rather too hot oven arise.

Where we last left our heroes:

My weekly goal is to master (sort of) Hamelman's Baguettes with Poolish. Last week's baguette possessed only a so-so flavor and texture, a crumb that was somewhat too tight, crust that was a tad chewy, and irregular scoring.  This week I added a few modifications:

Hello, To celebrate the Hazelnut Harvest which happens this time of year, I wanted to make some sweet rolls, using hazelnuts.

These are rolls made with Basic Sweet Dough. with Nut Filling, from Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads by Ciril Hitz.
This is a nice sweet dough recipe and includes some lemon zest for an added dimension of flavor.

Hazelnut flour was used in the filling, and the rolls were glazed (icing sugar + a decent measure of Frangelico liqueur
+ a bit of cream + a bit of pure vanilla extract + a teeny-tiny pinch of salt).