Lissa,
>What I would love to see is the recipe for Pain a L'ancienne exactly as it
>is made by the baker in Paris, not Reinhart's adaptation. Do you know if
>this is available anywhere?
I'm assuming that your issue with his adaptation is the hydration level
that he uses. I have the same problem with it, and I asked him about
producing a stiffer loaf. He pointed out that with the hydration dropped
to the same level as a regular baguette, you'd need a second rise after
forming the loaves since the oven spring by itself would not be enough. I
tried it and like the results, although my wife prefers the rustic loaf better.
Beyond that, I should point out that Peter is a member of this list, and he
might be willing to hop in and and say a few words himself on the subject.
You might try emailing him directly. For myself, I'm now a little
intrigued about how much this recipe has been "adapted" by Peter.
One thing I did try over the weekend was to make small square loaves with
the dough, to yield pannini like buns which can be used for sandwiches. It
worked fairly well.
The last thing I should point out is that this recipe is perfect for bakers
with real jobs. I mixed the dough on Saturday night, then took it out of
the fridge the next morning. It hadn't risen to double until about 5:00
that afternoon. This is perfect timing for weekday baking since the recipe
has only a single rise. Mix the dough in the evening, and it's ready to go
in the oven the next day at 5:00 PM, out of the oven and cooled by 6:00.
Fresh baked bread for dinner on a weekday without a bread machine!
Dave Barrett,