BEIGNETS & DONUTS… DELICIOUS FRIED PASTRY

“Anyhow, the hole in the doughnut is at least digestible.”
H.L. Mencken

YAY for beignets…

Was clearing cupboards day-before & found a Krispy Creme donut cap which the kids had picked up in Dallas last year when we were on vacation. The memories of row upon row of delicious looking fresh donuts sailing in front of us suddenly came alive. The freshness of the donuts just off from the conveyor, the warmth & the entire experience was scrumptious.

Got to Ruth’s bookmarked round-up & saw Dhhangit’s French Beignets (pronounced ben-yay) posted there with pictures. Providence…something was telling me it was time to make donuts; I’d never heard of beignets before! Recipe bookmarked, but by the time I got to the recipe, I found I needed 3 hours of rising time; I had just over 1. I planned to take some that afternoon for friends of the kids who are here these days. Googled for beignets & found another great sounding recipe for Chanukah Beignets @ Baking & Books. Rising time was 50-60 minutes & that fitted better into my silly hectic schedule.

Never heard of beignets before? I hadn’t! They are French & they are absolutely yummy! Good enough? Non?Hmmmm…well ok, a beignet ( pronounced ben–YAY) refers to a French doughnut being a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. Beignets are often found in, and typically associated with, the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Savory versions of beignets are also popular as an appetizer, with fillings such as crawfish or shrimp.

Donuts as adapted from Chanukah Beignets @ Baking & Books
Makes about 3 dozen, depending on size ( I got about 4 dozen smaller 3″ donuts)

Ingredients:
Warm water – 1/4 cup
Dry active yeast – 4 teaspoons
Granulated sugar – 1/3 cup plus a pinch
Skimmed Milk – 1 1/4 cups warm (The recipe calls for whole milk, which I didnt have)
Vanilla extract – 2 1/2 teaspoons
Eggs – 2
Unsalted butter – 1/4 cup /melted
Salt – 1 1/2 teaspoons
Flour – 5 -5 1/2 cups (I used all purpose)
Vegetable oil, for frying
Confectioners sugar, Cinnamon, Melted dark chocolate, sprinkles, honey, sesame seeds etc Method:

  • In a large mixing bowl, stir together the warm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Allow the mixture to stand for a couple of minutes, until the yeast has taken on a spongy appearance.
  • Pour in the warm milk, the remaining sugar, the vanilla, eggs, melted butter, salt & whisk to mix.
  • Add most of the flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes, adding more flour as needed to form a firmer, smooth and elastic dough. (This wasn’t very easy to achieve because the dough was very very sticky. I used well over 5 1/2 cups, though the original recipe calls for 4 – 41/2 cups. Do start from 4 cups)
  • Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, rotate to coat, and loosely cover with cling wrap. Allow to rise for 50 to 60 minutes. ( I left mine for 2 hours because I was on the phone…so…it flowed!!)
  • Gently deflate the dough, then roll half out on a greased surface. Cut circles & centres out with a greased cookie cutter or a donut cutter. For beignets, roll out to a rectangle, cut into 3 x 5 inch rectangles, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes while heating the oil. If the dough is too elastic (i.e. if it retracts every time you work with it) allow it to relax for a few minutes before stretching or rolling it further.
  • In a wok, heat 4 inches of oil to 380 degrees F. (I just heated it & checked for doneness with a little ball of dough since I don’t own a candy thermometer, much as I’d love to).
  • Gently slide in the cut donuts, or for beignets, stretch the dough slightly before adding them to the oil and fry until the undersides are deep brown and the beignets have puffed up noticeably, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. (Be careful when you add the dough! The oil will probably splash a little.) Turn once and finish frying for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on the other side.
  • They will have be deep golden brown on both sides when done. Lift the beignets out with a slotted spoon or tongs and drain them well on paper towels.
  • Dust generously with confectioners sugar &/or cinnamon mixed with confectioners sugar.
  • If you wish to top them with melted chocolate, wait for them to cool down completely & then dip the tops or paint on melted chocolate. Sprinkle on 100’s & 1000’s, coloured sugar strands, chocolate strands etc. Another topping option is to drizzle honey over them, sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds.
  • Délicieux!
  • Notes: Every time you add dough to the oil the temperature of the oil will decrease, so allow the oil to reheat between batches. Don’t fry more than 2 beignets at once. Also, the first beignet you fry will probably become golden super fast, but be underdone in the center. This is normal.

Quoting Ariela from the Dec 2006 post @ Baking and Books , “If you do it right, you’ll be left with a crispy exterior and soft, fluffy interior. Dust the beignet with sugar and you’ve just created piece of edible heaven.” I DID IT. Created just that!! Take a look…

They were delicious. The kids love me even more now! Their friends too. Eleven kids in the daughter’s class shared 1 measly donut; she saved the rest for her other friends, who even rang home last evening to see if I could make more. So I made another batch with some left over dough that I had refrigerated, & sent them to school this morning!! The boy sweetly asked me to save some for his Dad who came in early this morning from HKG. Dad was famished when he reached home in the middle of the night…viola, I presented donuts! He enjoyed them too. They would’ve tasted better fresh out of the pan, but wild horses wouldn’t drag me to fry at 3 in the morning!! LOL!!

Dhhangit suggested honey & sesame seeds…YUMMMM…they were good too.

I am sending this to Susan’s @ Wild Yeast Blog for Yeastspotting. Susan was inspirational & instrumental in me overcoming my fear of yeast!

When it rains, it pours … When the dough rises, it shows!!

Poetic justice! I seem to be enjoying the magic of yeast…& HOW!!

Just discovered another event, which was one of the first ones I got familiar with almost a year ago…Think Spice. Am sending this to Sunita @ Sunita’s World who is celebrating the first anniversary of her monthly event. The choice of spice this month is open…so ‘cinnamon’ being one of my firm favourites, these donuts are off to her to join the party!

TURKISH PIZZA ANYONE..Serving Pides with Pride!

“Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.”
Anna Quindlen
Turkish pizza anyone?

…they call them PIDES, street food from Turkey. Quite similar to something called lahmajoun, an Armenian pizza. Scrumptious, I tell you!! I saw this post by Elle @ Elles New England Kitchen while following DB Filbert Gateaus posts 2 days ago & I was sold…hook, line & sinker.
Pide – Turkish Pizza

Pide is a staple Turkish food and you’ll find it all over the country. The Turkish eat an astounding four times as much bread as any other nation. Most of this must be mouth-watering pide, the Turkish flatbread sold in every store and baked on every street corner. Pide is also the name of Turkish pizza, the bread topped with lamb, onions, cheese and tomato or any variety of combinations. Pide is a long thin banana shaped bread, rolled with some skill from a small ball of dough. The bread is then covered with the topping of your choice and slammed into a large, solid fuel burning oven for about 10 minutes. The resulting pide is sliced up and served piping hot.

Serving Pides with Pride!

Just the words ‘Turkish pizza’ transported me to an exotic land, the land of my dreams; there was no stopping me. Morning broke &, thanks to Elle, I was engulfed with sweet dreams of Turkey & it’s street food.

This spice, sumac, comes from the berries of a wild bush that grows wild in all Mediterranean areas, especially in Sicily and southern Italy, and parts of the Middle East, notably Iran. It is an essential ingredient in Arabic cooking, being preferred to lemon for sourness and astringency.

I am the proud owner of a bag of Sumac powder that my sweet niece thoughtfully got for me from Dubai. She often makes the Turkish Adana Kebabs I posted long ago, recipe here, & enjoys them a lot. The bag of sumac, a beautiful purple-red powder, has been beckoning me to use it for a while; pide seemed to present one such opportunity, since I had been longing to use sumac for something other than adana kebabsdelightful, delicious & simple kebabs.

A small change to the recipe was the use of a fresh papaya tenderizer to soften the lamb…that’s just me because I do not like my lamb chewy. The flavours were great, the process SIMPLE; & the big bonanza…the kids loved them!
Moreish‘, rustic & delicious!
For the kids, I used a small amount of marinara sauce as the base sauce first, followed by the the topping & additional Baby Gouda cheese grated on top … was terrified of getting rejected on the ultimate pizza frontier I guess…but they loved them. Served pides to the kids as flat pizzas, the regular way & sliced. Was elated that they enjoyed pides so much; love it when they explore their tastes & experiment with new flavours; HUGE relief.

Here’s the recipe as adapted from Elles @ Elles New England Kitchen

Dough: ( I made 1 1/2 times the original recipe, got me 10 Turkish pizzas)
Active Dried Yeast – 1 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Flour – 4 cups
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Method:

  • Mix the yeast, sugar and 1 cup warm water in a mixing bowl. Proof for 10 minutes.
  • Add flour, salt and oil, mix slightly, then knead the dough on a floured board until smooth.
  • Shape into a ball, cover and let dough rise for about an hour.

Topping:
Ground lamb – 500gms (or your choice of meat)
Fresh green papaya – 1 tsp ; grated fine (very optional)
Onions – 2 small; finely diced
Garlic – 6-8 cloves/ 2-3 tbsp minced ( I like plenty of garlic)
Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Tomatoes – 4-5; seeded and chopped
Green capsicum – 2 small; diced
Coriander – 1 bunch; finely chopped
Tomato paste – 2 tsp
Sweet paprika – 2 tsp
Sumac powder – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Low fat cottage cheese – 300-400gms (I used Le Bon)
Method for topping:

  • Marinade mince + 1 tsp papaya paste +1 tbsp minced garlic + 1 tsp sumac powder for 30 minutes, in the fridge.
  • Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the oil and saute the onions and remaining garlic for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the mince & stir fry on high till cooked through well & any liquid dries up. If you use papaya, the mince will have a kind of pasty consistency, not crumbly. Take off heat.
  • To this, add the tomatoes, coriander, green capsicum, tomato paste & spices & mix it all up. Taste and adjust seasonings.
  • Heat oven to 450°.
  • Divide dough into 10 portions and roll out to thin circles. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, and place 2 dough circles on each. Spread some of the topping on the first 2, top with grated cottage cheese or feta, then put the baking sheet in the oven.
  • Have 1/2 cup of cold water ready, and toss it in the bottom of the oven quickly, then shut the door. (I forgot to do this)
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough.
  • Remove from pan to a cooling rack.
  • Roll pizzas up to eat.

Rolling in the PIDES – Pizza, the Turkish way

This one’s on its way to my old friend Ben @ What’s Cookin US for his I Love Baking’ event, a baking event for baking loving people…& to Susan’s @ Wild Yeast Blog for Yeastspotting.

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HAMBURGER BUNS…TO YEAST OR NOT TO YEAST!!

“It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without soup or bread in it.”
M. F. K. Fisher
Hamburger Buns…made at home
“To yeast or not to yeast” seems to be my call these days. It’s been a while since I gained my yeastly confidence, & now, every weekend I wake up early to try a new yeast bread. Last weekend’s choice ended up being hamburgers because I found this nice recipe posted by Nicole Weston @ Slashfood. Looked like just what I wanted…perfect buns, ever so tempting.
The buns didn’t come out as perfect as the ones on Nicole’s post, but they did taste great. Her post is worth checking out…step by step pictures, explanations at every point & beautiful bunny snapshots!! I made one small change to her recipe…substituted 1/2 a cup of flour with whole-wheat flour. The buns were light with a nice wholesome chew to them…I think the addition of oats make a nice difference to the dough. I made 1 1/2 times the recipe & got 12 buns out of them.
…halfway through when the electricity decided to leave us & go away…
Small Breads…they turned out great anyway!!
This little bread thingy is off to Aparna’s diverse Kitchen where she is hosting Bread baking day #12, the theme of her choice is ‘Small Breads’. Bread Baking Day (BBD) is an event started by the very talented Zorra @ 1x umrühren bitte, dedicated to getting bread makers together every month.

Home-made hamburger buns with grilled chicken within!
The recipe for Homemade Hamburger Buns from Slashfood
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water, warm (110F)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup quick-cooking (or whole) oats
2-3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading ( I substituted 1/2 a cup with whole-wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

  • Combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast in a large bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until foamy.
  • Stir in the rest of the water, honey, oats, salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour.
  • Turn it out onto a lightly floured flat surface. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
  • Once it has risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press into a rectangle. Divide into eight equal pieces.
  • To shape the buns, draw up the corners of each piece of dough and pinch together, forming a tight ball. Place, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet (I used a foil here).
  • Sprinkle the tops with a bit of extra oats or sesame seeds and let rise for 45 minutes, covered with a clean dish towel, until almost doubled in size.
  • Bake at 190 degrees C for 20-25 minutes, until dark gold. The rolls will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving. The rolls will soften slightly as they sit. These can also be used for sandwiches.
  • Makes 8 buns.

Made for a nice meal…yum!!

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LOAFING AROUND…FOCACCIA with garlic, onion & fresh basil

“A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.”
Aesop
VICTORY LOAF….FOCACCIA!
Come spring & you find breads being baked with renewed fervour. Easter holiday breads are popping up all over the blogosphere…from hot cross buns to sweet braided loaves! I too have abandoned with glee my yeastophobia & jumped into the fray… though not with a sweet bread. I decided to make focaccia the other day. For me this finally symbolises victory over my fear of yeast! I’m ready to conquer the world of breads!! What better time but with the advent of Spring…
Fun with dough… mastering the plait!
This flat bread topped with olive oil, spices and other products is an early prototype of modern pizza. The basic recipe is thought by some to have originated with the Etruscans or Ancient Greeks.
Focaccia, known and loved in Italy and abroad, is a yeasted bread dough, often mixed or spread with oil, herbs, or onion, and ancient way of cooking bread dough quickly, possibly connected with offerings made by the Romans to the gods, liba… Early versions were cooked on the hearth of a hot fire, or on a heated tile or earthenware disk, like the related flatbreads. Many have an inventive range of flavourings, the olive oil, rosemary, garlic or onion of the schiacciata alla fiorentina of Tuscany, or the herbs, sage, rosemary, oregaon, onion, and ciccioli of the foccia genovese of Liguria.

Loafing around…

Focaccia is a versatile bread indeed. Full of flavour & full of options. I used a highly rated ‘Rosemary Garlic Focaccia recipe from Recipezaar; substituted the rosemary with fresh garlic & sliced onions, & added a portion of wholewheat flour too. The whole house smelt divine while the loaves were baking…absolute nirvana! We ate 2 loaves the first day with a chicken casserole, baked garlic potatoes, crumb fried fish & salad. The next day I made sandwiches with the 3rd loaf! I believe you can even top it & make it into a pizza! It’s got a lovely light & fresh crumb & keeps for 2-3 days at cool temperatures.

Redolent…in the rays of the setting sun

I saved some dough & plaited it into a braid… it’s been my dream for many years to plait a loaf of bread! Strange but true!! I used to drift through baking books wondering how such beautiful braided breads were possible. My first attempt wasn’t too bad as I made the plait from my mind; have since found out that I needed 4 strands & not 3 as I used! Until next time then…

The recipe as adapted from Recipezaar

Ingredients
Yeast – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 1 1/2 tsps
Flour – 4 cups
Wholewheat flour – 1/2 – 1 cup ( I substituted a bit of the flour with this)
Salt – 1 tsp
Olive oil – 3 tbsps
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Onion – 1 sliced
Garlic – 4-5 cloves / sliced
Roasted sesame seeds & poppy seeds
Sea salt – 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

  • In a bowl, stir together yeast, sugar and 1 ¾ cups lukewarm water and proof yeast for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.
  • Stir in 3 cups of flour + 1 cup of wheat flour, 1 tablespoons of the olive oil and the salt, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to form a soft and slightly sticky dough.
  • Transfer to a lightly-oiled bowl, turn to coat, and let rise, covered, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until double in size.
  • Knead dough down and press with lightly-oiled hands into 2 well-oiled 8″ round sandwich loaf pans, saving some for a braided bread.
  • Make a braid with the remaining dough, tuck in the ends underneath & let them rise, covered loosely, for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Set rack in center of oven.
  • Dimple dough with your fingers in places, drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over and spread over dough; sprinkle with onions, basil, garlic and sea salt. I drizzled oil over the braided loaf & sprinkled sesame & poppy seeds all over it.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes or until pale golden.
  • Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature.

A loaf I’m quite proud of…

Breadbakingday the monthly event was started by Zorra for passionate and to-be bread bakers, who bake bread and share recipes and experiences on the first day of every month. This month’s Breadbakingday’ is hosted by someone who I’ve been in awe of for LONGSusan @ Wild Yeast. She says…”As one of the oldest and most universal of foods, bread is associated with celebrations in every part of the world. For this month’s BreadBakingDay, you are invited to share your own spring holiday bread tradition, explore one you’re not yet familiar with, or start a new one. Choose any seasonal holiday or event you’d like to honor with a special bread.”

My new found freedom from yeastophobia is event enough to announce the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I’m gonna celebrate it with this braided loaf & am sending it off to Susan’s. I recommend you check out her blog & marvel at her ease with yeast…especially if you are yeastophobic like I was.

Indian Flatbread / Chapati Wraps with Turkish kebabs … WRAPPING IT UP…

“Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread. Without it, it’s flat.”
Carmen McRae, Jazz vocalist and pianist
Indian Flatbread … Chapati / Roti

Wrapping it up…fresh,healthy & fun!

Here’s what I did with part of the Turkish Adana Kebabs I made a few days ago. I made Indian unleavened flatbreads, chapati or roti, & made wraps using the kebabs as the filling, with bell peppers, onions, a Yogurt dip & a new discovery…Pomegranate Molasses. Served it with a Mexican corn salad on the side. I find unleavened flatbreads very healthy & versatile. They are made out of whole wheat flour dough only, which just has to be kneaded (as the Daring Bakers tag line comes to mind…We need to knead), no question of leavening agents, prior preparation etc, & above all, no preservatives . I usually leave the dough standing for 30 minutes for the gluten strands to develop…& then am ready to roll!!
Turkish Adana Kebabs…you can find the recipe here
A flatbread is a simple bread made from flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened—made without yeast or sourdough culture. They can range from one millimeter to a few centimeters thick. Flatbread was already known in Ancient Egypt and Sumer.
Chapati is a type of Indian bread eaten in South Asia and East Africa. In many areas of South Asia, particularly the north of the subcontinent, and in East Africa, it is the staple food. It is made from a dough of atta flour (whole grain durum wheat), water and salt by rolling the dough out into discs of approximately twelve centimeters in diameter and browning the discs on both sides on a very hot, dry tava or frying pan (preferably not one coated with Teflon or other nonstick material). Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour – 1 1/2 – 2 cups
Water to knead
Sauteed bell peppers with onions (all sliced); saute in a little oil for just 4-5 minutes till crisp tender.
Adana Kebabs ( recipe here)
Yogurt Dip ( recipe here)
Pomegranate molasses (recipe at the bottom)
Mexican Corn Salad
Method:
  • Put the flour in a big bowl, add enough water to make a firm, softish dough.
  • Knead firmly for 5-7 minutes; it should feel pliable & come away cleanly from the edges.
  • If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle on some more flour, 1 tbsp at a time, to get a nice, pliable dough.
  • Leave to stand for 30 minutes if you have time.
  • Heat a flat pan / tava to hot.
  • Make a dough ball about 1 1/2 ” big, dust in flour on both sides, & roll out as thin & as evenly as possible.
  • Put the rolled out flat bread on the tava. Cook for 1 minute till small bubbles form on the surface, flip it over & repeat.
  • Now drizzle a little oil (1/4 tsp) & smear it all over & fry briefly on low heat. Repeat on the other side. Keep warm. Make the rest of the chapatis the same way.
  • Line a chapati with a the sauteed bell peppers & onion. Add some dip, layer it with a kebab or two, drizzle some pomegranate molasses over it…
  • Wrap it up & serve with a corn salad!
  • For the Mexican Corn Salad – Toss sweetcorn with finely chopped coriander leaves, finely chopped green chilies, diced deseeded tomatoes, chopped spring onions with greens, lime juice & salt. Add some roasted cumin powder if you like. Serve chilled!

This is my entry for Bread baking Day 7 hosted by Chili und Ciabatta…she says “think of indian chapati, naan, dosa or paratha, of italian focaccia, ethiopian injeera, swedish knäckebröd, scottish oatcakes, turkish pide, mexican tortilla, jewish matzo, armenian lavash, south tyrolean Vinschger Paarlen… this list could go on and on”… And that’s exactly what I did!

And now for the Pomegranate Molasses

The fruit chosen by Sra @ When My Soup Came Alive for AFAM this month was POMEGRANATE (the red ones are known as Kandhari Anaar’s here). This event was started by Maheswari of Beyond the Usual & has a different host each month. I bought a couple the other day & they have been staring me in the face. Read Rachel’s post of a cake she made with it, & wondered what else could come out of it other than juice, salsa, vinaigrette etc. Arundati knows I’ve been under pomegranate pressure because we spoke while I was staring at the fruit!!Making matters worse is that it’s Feb…fewer days!! To cut a long story short…well, I missed the deadline of Feb 25th! (& to end on a happy note…Sra just mailed to say she hadn’t rounded-up yet…so she accepted my pom molasses!! Thank you Sra… YAY!)

Surfing brought me to many recipes…one which caught my attention was Pomegranate Molasses on a blog called NamiNami & also on Simply Recipes. ‘Pomegranate molasses’ is a traditional ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking and can be used in a variety of dishes. Here’s a bit of it that I made…mainly for AFAM, but also because I thought it would taste great with the kebab wraps…& it did! It’s like a piquant plum sauce…tangy & beautiful. My pictures don’t do justice to it…because ‘hurry made curry’ this time!! Also, the quantity is very little because we used up quite a bit…story of my blogging life….PHEW!!

Pomegranate Molasseson the Middle Eastern food trail!

Ingredients:
Pomegranates – 4 medium sized
Juice of 3-4 limes
Sugar – 1/4 – 1/2 cup (as per taste)
Method:

  • Take out the pomegranate seeds ( the red juicy pearls) & blend them in a liquidiser.
  • Pour them through a muslin lined soup strainer to collect the clear liquid..the yummy juice! Squeeze the cloth to catch as much juice. The colour is to die for. It’s very tempting to abandon all plans & take a swig of the delicious juice…O well!
  • Put the juice with the sugar & lime juice in a pan & simmer, for 45-60 minutes till beautiful & thick…like molasses. It will thicken a bit as it sits.
  • Cool & store in a jar in the fridge.
  • Elise at Simply Recipes says…”You can also mix it with a little orange juice and club soda for a refreshing punch”. Sounds great…the daughter also said I can make a Kool-aid like drink with it! I’ll keep it as a sauce though, thank you; its beautiful like this!!

Blended & strained…

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