Pain De Campagne – French Country Bread Recipe

WALNUT OF LEAVEN
1/8 c Cold water
1/2 c White bread flour

-DAY 1-
3/8 c Tepid water
1 1/2 c White bread flour

-DAY 1-
3/4 c Cold water
2 1/2 c White bread flour

-DAY 2-
1 7/8 c Tepid water
6 3/8 c White flour
1/8 c Salt

1. Put the leaven in a bowl and mix with the water, then add the flour and
knead to a homogenous dough with your fingertips. Put the dough in a small
bowl covered with clingfilm and leave to ripen at about 24?C/75?F. It will
at least double in size.

2. Add the water to the leaven from the previous stage to dissolve it, mix
in the flour and knead the dough on a floured work surface. Leave it to
rise in a bowl covered with clingfilm at about 24?C/75?F. It will at least
double in size. it will have a definite smell, vinegary and sharp, but not
overly strong.

3. Add the water to the leaven from the previous stage to dissolve it, mix
in the flour gradually, then knead it on the work surface for 10 minutes.
Leave it to rise in a bowl covered with clingfilm at 10?C/50?F overnight.
It will at least double in size.

4. Make a soup of the leaven from the previous stage and the water,
squeezing it between your fingers to break it up. Mix the flur and salt
together, then gradually add them to the liquid, mixing all the while. Mix
to a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean, then knead on a floured
work surface for 10 minutes, until smooth and resilient. Leave the dough to
rise in a bowl covered with clingfilm in a warm place (24?C/75?F) for
between 2 and 3 hours, until doubled in size.

5. Turn the dough on a lightly floured work surface, knock back, divide in
half and mould each piece into a ball. At this stage, take off a walnut of
dough to act as leaven for the next time. Put it in a small bowl, cover
with clingfilm and refrigerate. it will keep undamaged for at least a week,
and can then be reacivated for another session of baking.

6. This bread can be proved in bannetons (proving baskets). ot, with no
further moulding, on baking sheets. The sape of the bannetons will
determine whether you have to mold it into long loaves or leave them round.
Whichever shape, make sure the bannetons are well floured, and lrove the
loaves bottom upwards as you will be turning themout on to baking sheets,
stones or the floor of the oven itself.

7. Leave for afinal proof, covered with oiled clingfilm to prevend
skinning. if you take a nut of the dough and put it into a storage jar or
jug filled with water at room temperature, it will rise to the surface as
the yeasts generate gases – just as your loaves are rising in their
baskets. When that nut of dough comes to the surface of the water, then
your bread is proved and can go into the oven. Proving should take about
1-1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile heat the oven to 230?C/450?F/gas mark 8.

8. Turn the loaves on to oiled baking sheets, or a baking stone, slash them
with a knife : three slashes close together for round loaves, diagonal cuts
down the length of longer breads, and bake them for about 35 minutes,
spraying them with water three times in the first 5 minutes. If they do not
sound hollow after 35 minutes, bake for another 15 minutes at
200?C/400?F/gas mark 6. Cool on wire racks.
Notes: The method used in this recipe allows you to make two large loaves
of sourdough or leaven bread in easy stages over a period of two days. The
process is quite lengthy, but it gets round the problem of regular feeding
of leaven that often results in lots of bowls dotted around the kitchen and
larder. It’s all much simpler in a bakery.There, the routine works steady
around the clock. But not everyone wants to bake daily or indeed needs to.
This recipe, therefore, needs just one preliminary ingredient – a walnut of
leaven, stored in the refrigerator from the last time you made some leaven
bread – then takes you through to finished loaves. If you have no leaven at
all, see the instructions for making a leaven.
Per serving: 2557 Calories; 9g Fat (3% calories from fat); 78g Protein;
526g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 5839mg Sodium