Welcome To Ovenminded

About My Bakin', Cookin', Wine Makin'!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

BBA # 21 Pain A`L'Ancienne

This is real bread!!Crusty ,tasty, delicious! the recipe is simple,ice cold water to make the dough and an immediate overnight cold ferment. Actually the name is missleading,as PR mention's, this is a new technique, ancients didn't have ice,or refridgeration, unless they made it in winter?LOL. In any event the bread is good!! no exotic methods, or ingredients,just flour,salt, yeast, ice water. The ice cold dough preparation and immediate overnight cold ferment slows the yeast to almost nothing,while naturally occuring bacteria break down the carbs into sugars other wise not available for the yeast to feed on, using other methods.
The shaping is simple, cut and stretch, place on parchment lined pan,bake. Cool, EAT!
 Let's make bread!
Mixed the flour,salt,yeast, ice water to make a  wet sticky dough
Using wet spatula pushed into an oiled bowl
Ready to cover and put in fridge overnight
Next day out of fridge, almost double
An hour later bursting
With a wet spatula placed onto a floured work surface
Dusted tops with flour and using a bench scraper dipped in water cut through to make two pieces
Again with a wet bench scraper cut each half into three pieces
Lift and stretch to place on cornmeal dusted parchment on an upsidedown 1/2 sheet pan (note dust pan with semolina or cornmeal so parchment slides off easily)
Ready to bake,steam pan in oven,baking stone in bottom 3rd of oven, temp 550
20 minutes for the first three, and I took a suggestion from Chris our host in this challenge at  akuindeed.com, to bake some longer to create a more pronounced crust
first three out of oven
Second three show a darker crust compared to the slices on left of the first loaves, both have open crumb, I prefered the 2nd loaves, the 1/2 hour wait for the oven proofed them a bit more and gave them more hieght than the first loaves.
We enjoyed the bread  spread with our homemade mushroom and mixed olive tapenade with our dinner.

4 comments:

  1. I want! :)
    Great write up and wonderful looking loaves.
    Susie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful and rustic! I'll take a dozen, please..... :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice bread! You always do such a good job, both on your posts and your breads. I am really really wanting some baguettes right now and don't have the time, mind sending a few over my way? I know they are probably long gone by now!

    ReplyDelete