Just in case you don't have Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice."
Pain a l'Ancienne is not a bread, but a way of fermenting dough. The
technique can be used with French bread, focaccia, and ciabatta, and so
forth, including pizza dough. It releases flavors in the flour no other
method can produce. I learned and adapted the method from Peter Reinhart's
superb book The Bread Baker's Apprentice. We will use the technique to make
French bread.
The technique is simple. Ice water and refrigeration are the keys to the
method. You must begin the day before baking. You will make the dough and
place it in the refrigerator to ferment over night. You can use all-purpose
or bread flour. I prefer all-purpose because it is easier to shape.
Dry Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose (over 11% protein)
or bread flour (over 12% protein)
1 tablespoon rye flour
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 cups ice-cold spring water
The day before baking: Place a container with 1 1/2 cups of spring water
in your refrigerator and let it cool to 40 F or below. (You can also place
the container in the freezer for a quicker result, or add ice to the water
to get the same result.) When the water is sufficiently cool, fit your
food processor with the metal chopping blade. Add all the dry ingredients
to the food processor and pulse several times to mix. Then pour in the
water. Pulse until the flour begins to clump together. Then run the food
processor for 20 seconds, no more, to knead. Remove the dough to a bowl
over twice the size in volume. Knead the dough for a few minutes until it
becomes smooth.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
The day of baking: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit
out so it can double from its original size. Do not punch it down to degas
it. Simply remove the dough to a surface liberally sprinkled with flour. If
the dough is wet and sticky, sprinkle it with flour; even if not sticky, if
you sprinkle it with some flour, it makes a beautiful looking crust. Now
you need to shape the dough.
Press it into a rectangle about 8" by 6". Cut the dough in half length wise
with a metal pastry scraper, pressing straight down.
Minimal baking equipment for bread is a baking stone and a pizza peel. I
will assume you have these. If not, use a really sturdy sheet cake pan that
will not warp under high heat. Cut parchment paper to fit a pizza peel with
a couple of inches excess; then cut it in half so the cut runs the same
direction as the handle and overlap it in the middle. Place the dough
strips on the parchment paper. Cover with a linen towel.
Place the baking stone on the middle rack in the oven; place a sturdy
stainless steel pan on the bottom rack. Heat the oven to 550 F, if it goes
that high. Just before baking, heat a cup of water for 1 minute in the
microwave.
When ready to bake, with a razor blade or French bread lame, cut 3 slashes
diagonally in each loaf. Use a firm quick stroke. Slide the dough which is
on the parchment paper onto the baking stone (I grip the parchment paper
where it overlaps with tongs and pull it onto the stone), and pour the cup
of water in the pan on the lowest rack, keeping your head back so the steam
will not burn you. The steam will keep the crust soft for the first 10
minutes of baking, enabling the bread to fully rise. Bake for one or two
minutes, then turn the oven down to 475 F. Now bake for 8 minutes. Then,
using tongs, remove the parchment paper, pulling it out from each side, and
rotate the loaves 180 F, and also moving the front loaf to the back. Remove
the pan with water; you do not want any steam now. If crust is quite brown,
turn the oven down to 400 F. Bake for another 10 minutes. Check the bread
to see if the crust is getting too brown. If it is, turn the oven down to
325 F. Bake for 5 more minutes. It should now be done. Check to see if it
sounds hollow when tapped on the center bottom. If you want to use a
thermometer, it is done when the internal temperature is 205 F. When done,
remove to a rack to cool.
Serve with olive oil for dipping or a good butter.
For ciabatta, let the dough raise on the pizza peel longer for an hour or
two before baking. See herb ingredients below for ciabatta.
Optional ingredients:
Dry Ingredients
3 tablespoons semolina flour
Wet Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Herb Ingredients (particularly good in ciabatta):
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh sage or 3/4 to 1 tablespoon of
roughly chopped fresh rosemary - use one herb or the other, not both.
For more herb flavor, use in addition to the fresh sage or rosemary:
1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh chives or 1 tablespoon roughly chopped
fresh oregano
1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh thyme
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