Pain à l'Ancienne is probably one of my favorite breads from Peter's book. The reason it's so enjoyable is because it's relatively little work but tastes really good, especially with a little butter spread on it or dipped in olive oil and basalmic vinegar. Yumm!
The dough is made the night before baking and immediately put in the refrigerator after kneading it so as to minimize yeast activation prior to retardation. In addition, the temperature of the water used to hydrate the dough is reduced using ice cubes for a couple minutes prior to mixing. On baking day, the dough is taken from the fridge and set on the counter for a couple hours before shaping and immediately baking.
The recipe in Peter's book makes 6 loaves and the texture, color, and taste is simply amazing. The top picture is my first attempt a few months ago and the bottom picture is from my attempt yesterday afternoon. I let the bread bake a little longer my second go around for a deeper golden crust and YUM! it was good.
This next week I'm looking at starting the sourdough recipes. Frankly it seems a little intimidating since it comes with a four day feeding schedule followed by two more days to make a loaf of bread. My biggest concern is that the barm will go moldy before it's ready to go.
Wish me luck!
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