I didn't take pictures of the initial mixing or the risen dough since I was tired and didn't think of it, so we'll start here.
Pain a l'Ancienne
This is right out of the Bread Baker's Apprentice, a wholely wonderful book. I made it with 75% hydration, though, instead of the almost 80% that's suggested. I'll try the 80% hydration next time. In the meantime, I'm very happy with how this turned out.
The recipe calls for a big batch. It's far more than my baguette pan can deal with. Here's the remaining. The book suggests saving the dough and making more baguettes later or, as I did, making a ciabatta with the rest.
Ciabatta pre-shapes in folded cloth a lot like shaping a boule in a banneton.
I set the baguettes out to cool and snapped a few pictures.
Unfortunately the flash got in the way of really showing the crumb. It's yellower than it looks here, and boy is it ever tasty. This crumb is far more open than I've had on my earlier breads, but nowhere near as open as I've seen for Pain a l'Ancienne. I'll just keep working on it.
I didn't snap pictures as the ciabatta went in to the oven since it's so fragile, but when I pulled it out, it sure looked great. I took this while it cooled.
The recipe calls for a big batch. It's far more than my baguette pan can deal with. Here's the remaining. The book suggests saving the dough and making more baguettes later or, as I did, making a ciabatta with the rest.
Ciabatta pre-shapes in folded cloth a lot like shaping a boule in a banneton.
I set the baguettes out to cool and snapped a few pictures.
Unfortunately the flash got in the way of really showing the crumb. It's yellower than it looks here, and boy is it ever tasty. This crumb is far more open than I've had on my earlier breads, but nowhere near as open as I've seen for Pain a l'Ancienne. I'll just keep working on it.
I didn't snap pictures as the ciabatta went in to the oven since it's so fragile, but when I pulled it out, it sure looked great. I took this while it cooled.