Baguettes with poolish and levain

I was in major baking overdrive this weekend, baking a total of 10 ciabattas and 6 baguettes over a 2 day period. For the 6 baguettes, I was in a situation where I had a ripe poolish and a starter which was in its first build stage. Since I didn't want all that flour to go to waste, I decided to incorporate both the poolish and levain to make some baguette. The main dough was mixed at midnight and I made the baguettes after I returned from my yoga session.

When it came out of the oven, my wife remarked that it had a very beautiful color. It was a good chance for me to thank my neighbor for his gift of the original Tarragon sprig which has since multiplied. Another loaf went to my French neighbor. I hope the bread was good enough him. After all, he must grown up eating really good authentic French bread in France.

Walnut Raisin Bread

It's been some time since I made some fruit and nut bread.  I thought I'd do some bread but with a twist. The bread was a gift to a friend who invited me to lunch and since I was going to give him one of my infamous hard stony bread, I thought I had better balance it with something softer and sweeter. I hope he and his children will enjoy it. At the same time, I want to bake something softer for my father who has a problem eating the hard bread that I bake.

I settled for walnut raisin based on Hamelman's Pullman bread but tweaked the hydration for the additional walnuts and raisin.