My Baking Adventures

Another winner from Bridget!

As I continue my quest of bread domination one loaf at a time, I recently made pain ordinaire – which translates to ordinary bread. But that can be tricky, depending upon your point of view.

What constitutes ordinary bread?

According to Bridget , it’s bread that you can make without planning a day ahead, or going through any complicated steps.

That’s exactly what this bread is. I made the “pre-ferment”, then let my mixer handle the rest. I placed it into a bowl, covered it and allowed the yeast gods to take over. By the time the loaf was finished rising, I had to leave to pick up the kids. So I stuck the bowl in the fridge, and when I came home 2 hours later, I shaped it and left it for the second rising. I baked it up on my pizza stone, then I sliced it up and served it with dinner.

It had a nice, chewy texture, and crisp crust – not too heavy and not too light. I froze the leftovers and when I thawed them out a few days later, it was still perfect. It would be good toasted and topped with bruschetta. Or, my father’s favorite way – drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese – then heated briefly to melt the cheese. Warning – it is highly addictive in this form, so don’t be alarmed if you find yourself eating the entire loaf.

Pain Ordinaire (adapted from Ultimate Bread, by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno)

Feel free to play with the recipe. Either bread flour (which I think is what I used) or all-purpose will work, and you can substitute about a quarter of that with whole wheat or even rye flour. You can replace half of the water with buttermilk or milk. You can make the loaf any shape you want. It fits in a loaf pan and it can be made into rolls.

3½ cups (17½ ounces) unbleached flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1⅓ cup water, room temperature (I did use half buttermilk and half water)
1½ teaspoon salt

1. Stir the yeast into 1¾ cup (8¾ ounces) of the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add all of the water, stirring until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes, or until the mixture becomes frothy, loose, and slightly expanded.

2. Add the remaining flour and the salt to the mixture. Stir (or mix on medium-low speed with the hook attachment) for 1 minute, or until the ingredients form a ball.

3. Lightly dust the counter with flour, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin kneading (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook). Knead for about 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine), adding flour, if needed, to make a dough that is smooth, shiny, and elastic.

4. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1½ to 2 hours. Press to deflate, then let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Gently pat the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold the bottom third of dough, letter style, up to the center and press to seal, creasing surface tension on the outer edge. Fold the remaining dough over the top and use the edge of your hand to seal the seam closed and to increase the surface tension all over. Press evenly with the palms of both hands and roll the dough backward and forward until it is 14 inches in length. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Place the loaf on the pan and lightly dust with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

6. Proof at room temperature for about 1 hour, or until the loaves have grown to about twice their original size.

7. About half an hour into the second rise, place a baking stone* on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

8. Using a very sharp knife or a serrated bread knife, cut 5 diagonal slashes, each about ¼ to ½-inch deep, across the top of the loaf. (Alternatively, cut one long slash that extends for the length of the loaf.)

9. Transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a peel or the back of a sheet pan. Transfer the dough to the baking stone. Close the oven and reduce the temperature to 450 degrees. Bake until golden brown and the temperature is at least 200 degrees** at the center.

10. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving.

*If you don’t have a baking stone, simply bake the loaf on a baking sheet at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.

**If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, tap the bottom of the hot baked loaf. It should sound hollow when the bread is done baking.