Poitevin twist

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 baguettes, you will need:

• 1 200 g walnuts
• 2 200 g cheese
• 3 2 tablespoons walnut oil
• 4 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65)
• 5 300 g water
• 6 20 g yeast
• 7 9 g salt
• 8 4 tablespoons walnut oil
• Total weight: 1,320 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
35 min.	2 hours 5 min.	40 min.	3 hours 20 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Coarsly chop 200 g walnuts and spread out on a baking sheet, then toast in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for 15 minutes.
2	Leave to cool completely.
3	Cut 200 g cheese into small dice.
4	TIp the toasted walnuts and diced goat's cheese into a bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons walnut oil over and mix thoroughly. This can be prepared the day before (or a few days earlier) and kept in the fridge, coverered with plastic film.
5	In bread-making, the water temperature is always important. It's not a fixed value, but related to 3 other temperatures: 1) the temperature of your flour, 2) the room temperature in your kitchen, and 3) the basic temperature of this recipe, which is 60-64°C. You can calculate the temperature of the water for this recipe in one click, using this small calculator.
6	Put into a mixer bowl: 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65), 300 g water, 20 g yeast and 9 g salt. Knead for 5 minutes on the slowest speed, then a further 5 minutes on the second speed. Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
7	At the end of kneading, incorporate 4 tablespoons walnut oil a little at a time.
8	Tip in the walnut and cheese mixture all at once and knead for a further 1 or 2 minutes until well mixed in.
9	Tip the dough out onto a floured worktop...
10	...and gather into a ball. Transfer to a large, clean bowl, cover with a plastic sheet and leave at room temperature to rest for 1 hour.
11	After resting, weight out into lumps of 250 g and shape into balls. Cover these with a plastic sheet again and leave to relax for 20 minutes.
12	Shape the balls into short baguettes.
13	Lay in baguette tins or moulds...
14	...or in proving baskets (bannetons). Cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 45 minutes.
15	Just before putting the bread in the oven, twist each baguette enough turns to make a definite feature.
16	Bake for 25 minutes at 480°F (250°C). Note: As when baking any bread, you should ensure that the oven is filled with steam for the first 15 minutes of baking. This page shows you how; it really is the secret of golden-brown, crusty loaves.

Remarks

It is best to use a fairly dry goat's cheese, as this will survive the baking better.
If you don't have any walnut oil, use olive oil instead.

---