One of the most fascinating things about this whole “situation” to me is what people are inclined to hoard. In the beginning, it was toilet paper, which was annoying but I guess made some sense.
What has surprised us here at Chez Fitzmorris is the run on flour and other items having to do with baking. There is clearly a lot of baking going on in isolation. Who knew that it was maybe everyone’s secret fantasy to bake bread, and only now do they have the time to indulge it because they are locked down.
True confession, it was also something I’ve wanted to do. It has been many weeks since I first began a quest for bread flour. Weeks of empty shelves later, ML found a stash of it at Acquistapace’s recently. Bread flour was the main ingredient in a country loaf of bread that intrigued me from a book that has been calling to me.
A few months ago a young woman came to town from Paris, where she runs a very famous bakery started by her father, who along with her mother, died an untimely death when she was in college.
Apollonia Poillâne was in New Orleans for only two weekend days, so we didn’t have a chance to interview her about her very beautiful book.
She was here as part of a joint promotion with the new Bar Marilou on Carondelet, itself part of the new Maison de la Luz Hotel, in the Ace Hotel Group. The promotional event was limited to 40 people and sold out immediately. Guests received a signed copy of the book Poillâne, had some champagne, and appetizers made with the famous crusty peasant-style sourdough for which the house is famous.
The book is more of an account of the bakery interwoven with the story of her life, and pictures of the bakery and the breads. There are very intimidating recipes, but a basic Pain de Mie was always going to be my first adventure here.
When ML unexpectedly scored a bag of bread flour, she did not appreciate my diss of good old Gold Medal. What would Apollonia Poilâne think of that? I didn’t really care what brand it was. It was...a bag of flour...in my house!! I’ll never take flour for granted again.
I started in on the recipe before Mary Leigh suggested I read through the entire thing. The necessity of this was proven to me when I made the cheese souffle from the Susan Spungen book, Open Kitchen.
Following the directions in a recipe is not something I am wont to do. Especially here, when Appolonia Poilane talks about a “concerto of notes” released by the Poivre des Mondes ( Peppers of the World) a spice blend of Olivier Roellinger from his eponymous house Épices Roellinger. Smiling about how nice Olivier’s pepper blend must be, I shook the pepper mill here a few times. I also left out the tiny bit of sugar, even though I understand that sugar and salt interact with other ingredients chemically in ways that are necessary. Or maybe not, because we loved our dwarf bread. I still recommend the sugar if you are not repulsed by it as I am. (again, recognizing that it is sugar that makes chocolate edible.) The Poilâne recipe calls for a third of the sugar (still just one tablespoon) other less gourmet versions of this basic white bread use.
So I got the flour late in the afternoon, and after I put all the dry ingredients together, my level head (ML) raised an eyebrow and asked if I had read the directions. Like the 6-year-old she likens me to, I wilted at the question. She looked at the book and said, “Are you prepared to stay up till midnight for this?” Further wilting.
I put the milk that had to be lukewarm aside, and I set aside the already-combined dry ingredients.
The next day I combined the wet and dry ingredients and put the dough in a bowl to rise for 2 plus hours. In 2 plus hours it had not doubled in size but I pressed on anyway.
This recipe did not call for excessive kneading, instead cautioning against it. This is one of my fears about bread-baking. Kneading dough is hard work, but it is also mindless activity which tends to be therapeutic. But how much is too much? I guess that’s one of those nuances you learn by doing. Poilâne instructs to gently flip it once or twice before shaping it.
I didn’t have a Pullman pan, and I couldn’t even find a regular loaf pan, so I used a glass loaf pan. When my inner 6-year-old could stand it no longer, and when the dough had risen a respectable amount, it went into the oven. It was fun to watch it bake, though it didn’t rise much then either. In the book the baking is a two-step process, calling for the top to be covered and then uncovered, but we skipped that as well and it was fine.
I was proud of my imperfect loaf of Pan de Mie. Late in the evening, we let it sit for a while after easily removing it from the pan. It was dense in crumb and heavy, but the crust was a lovely golden brown.
It sliced easily, and we toasted a few slices. The butter melted easily and this was a heartwarming snack. The three of us stood around it like a trough.
Basic sandwich bread recipes are all over. If you want to bake this one, the recipe is abbreviated below. Go for it and order the Épices Roellinger Poivre Des Mondes from France. It will probably arrive long before you are able to score a bag of flour from your grocery shelf.
Black Pepper Pan de Mie
2 cups plus 2 Tbl bread flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1 Tbl sugar
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 ¼ tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp Poivre des Mondes or freshly ground pepper
1 cup lukewarm whole milk
3 tsp lukewarm water
3 Tbl softened unsalted butter
Using a stand mixer with the hook attachment, combine all dry ingredients. Slowly add the milk and then the water until a dough forms. Continue this process by adding a tablespoon of the softened butter one at a time. About 3 minutes.
Place in an oiled bowl (I used more of the softened butter for this) and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size. About 2-2 ½ hours.
Oil (again, I used the butter) a Pullman loaf pan or regular loaf pan. Dust a board and gently knead the dough, dressing out any bubbles. Stretch it out and fold it over, then stretch the other sides and fold them over until it’s a ball. Stretch two ends and form a loaf and place it in the loaf pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until it rises to ½ inch from the top of the pan.. At least an hour.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees 25 minutes before baking.
Remove the plastic wrap and either insert the Pullman top or cover with foil, making sure that whatever touches the dough is oiled. Bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the covering and return to the oven for 15 minutes more. (We did not cover the bread at all, which may be why the crumb was dense and the bread heavy.)
When the top is golden brown, remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Dislodge it from the pan and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled. Slice.
