“Nothing wrong with pain ordinaire,” the French woman of a certain age said in that decisive, Gallic way. I was just learning to make French breads and had told her, apologetically, that I could only make pain ordinaire, ordinary bread, the one as common on French tables as vin ordinaire. It’s really not so ordinary; when I had precious cake yeast to use up, I doubled this pain ordinaire recipe, shaping it three ways.
It’s a simple and flavorful bread with a wonderful crumb, as good for sandwiches or dipping as it is in a bread basket with lunch or dinner. You can bake it in a loaf pan or free-form and for added taste and “holeyness” you can do as I did and give it an extra rise, although that’s not necessary at all. You can use any kind of yeast; I’ve used all three and provide the amounts I use. The baking time is necessarily imprecise and will vary with your oven and the state of the dough going in. Good bread baking involves the senses and experience will train them.
You’ll see this has a little sugar, unlike most French breads. The knowing French woman suggested I add it for flavor and moisture. Nothing wrong with pain ordinaire with a bit of sugar.
Ella’s Pain Ordinaire
3 cups/380g unbleached all-purpose flour
1 heaping TB granulated sugar
1 tsp table salt
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
OR
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
OR
1/3 – 1/2 of a small cake of fresh yeast*
4 tsp canola oil
OR
4 tsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 – 1 1/4 cups (8 – 10 ounces) water
*If you’ve never used cake yeast, start with 1/2 of the cake to discover how it behaves in your kitchen. If you’re in a hurry, use the whole thing.
Combine the dry ingredients, except the yeast, in a workbowl or the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or stand mixer. Stir or pulse to blend. Scatter on the yeast and stir or pulse again.
Add the oil or melted and cooled butter and mix or pulse to combine. Add about 8 ounces of the water and mix or pulse until a ball forms. If it does not, add remaining water 1 TB at a time. When you have a ball, knead by hand until smooth and elastic OR process for 45 seconds OR knead with the dough hook of a stand mixer on Speed 2 for 2 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled or sprayed bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume and a finger poked into the dough leaves an indentation that remains. This could take as long as two hours.
At this point, you have a choice. You will punch down the dough in both cases. Then either shape it into baguettes, a boule or a loaf (See How to: shape bread dough) and put it in a greased loaf pan or on a parchment-lined baking sheet for the second rise until it is nearly doubled or almost crowns the pan. Or return the punched-down dough to the proofing bowl for another rise before shaping and rising again. In both cases, the dough should be re-covered. The second rise will take 45 – 60 minutes, the optional third rise even less time. If you wish to retard the second rise, place it in the fridge for several hours or overnight, bringing it to room temperature before proceeding.
When ready to bake the bread, set a rack in the middle or lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Slash boules or baguettes and, if you wish, dust the bread with a bit of flour. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until well-colored, risen and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle should register 190 degrees F/88 C or higher.
If you’re an experienced bread baker, start the baking at 400F for 10 minutes, then lower to 350 and adjust the time accordingly.
Yield: 1 loaf or boule, or 2 baguettes. This keeps well and freezes well, tightly-wrapped.
Related posts on From Scratch: About Cake Yeast Herb and Garlic Baguettes What is Instant Yeast?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
What is the secret to a really thin, crackly crust?
Nate’s last blog post..Oxtail Braised in Red Wine
Can I make this in a bread machine? It does, sort of, 1 1/2 rises, I think. (I was given one as a gift a long time ago. I used to use it a lot. Now I’m looking for excuses. I like it because I just throw all the ingredients in there, push a button, and walk away!) It is cheating to use a bread machine? Will you think less of me? Can I use cake yeast in a bread machine? (I’ve only used packets, but your yeast post intrigued me.) See what you’ve started?
MusEditions’s last blog post..Thinking makes you fat, srsly!
Nate – The real secret is an oven, preferably brick-lined, that can approach temperatures near 600 degrees and, most important, has steam injected at the push of a button. Using sponges/starters and slow rises help too. See the baguette post linked to above and this one:
http://foodpluspolitics.com/2007/06/09/about-bread-baking/
When I want a crust that shatters, I buy from a bakery.
PS to Nate - I recall I wrote about autolyse and some artisan techniques in the braided semolina post:
http://foodpluspolitics.com/2007/10/01/braided-semolina-bread/
Hi, Muse! – Well, that’s a loaded question. But first, no I never think less of people who use bread machines. I know they do a fabulous job at kneading. Baking, that’s another story. I had a friend in NY who had a top of the line Zojirushi (about $350) and I always knew when I walked in her apartment if she was baking in the machine or the oven. Two totally different smells – the machine bread smelled only of yeast, sort of like toasted yeast, for want of a better description. The finished product was very different too. The oven bread was always superior.
So I’d recommend using your dough cycle and if you want multiple rises try this trick: when it beeps at the end of the dough cycle (or however it lets you know) don’t turn off the machine, set a timer and just leave it there for another hour. Then punch down the dough and let it rise in the machine another hour. After that, turn off the machine, remove the dough, shape it and let rise for half an hour or so while the oven preheats.
I’m pretty sure this is small enough for any dough cycle but I don’t know if it’s small enough to be baked in all machines.
I honestly don’t know if cake yeast can be used in a machine. Your manual or the machine maker’s website should be able to give you a definitive answer, which I’d love to know. I’m guessing it would fine on the dough cycle, but that’s only a guess.
See what you’ve started? I will happily take the rap if anyone gets into bread making because of anything I’ve posted.
Next step: seeing a shot of your pain ordinaire on your blog!