Pain de Ménage

I make bread every other day, sometimes every day. Even when I was working full time, I wouldn't settle for much store bought bread. I would bake mine in the evening and let it cool on the kitchen table, covered with a clean linen towel and it was perfectly fresh for the following day. You may think I'm a bit of a workoholic... Well that's not entirely false, but I have to say making bread became really easy, involving almost no effort, since I own a stand-up mixer.

I know there's legions of homebakers out there who are totally in love with their bread machines. I tried 3 different bread machines and I was never impressed with the quality of the bread they yeld. Even when set-up for making the dough only, the results was less than ideal in my opinion.

With such a standing mixer, it is a cinch to make bread as long as you have 2 hours and a half during wich you know you are not going to leave home. You won't work per say on your bread during this lapse of time. The bread is made in mostly unattended steps.

I usually get my bread going before I begin making supper. It leavens a first and often even a second time while I'm busy cooking our evening meal. I ask sometimes my boys and my husband if they want to wait for the bread to cook before having supper. Usually they grab a fruit or a yogourt to cheat on their hunger and tell me they'll wait for the hot bread right out of the oven.

When I have this kind of answer, I pre-heat the oven after dough rose a second time so it heats properly while I'm shaping the bread. I speed the last proof by putting the shaped bread near the heating oven. By the time the loaves leavened, the oven is hot and ready for them. It takes around 45 minutes to cook and then it needs a 10 or 15 minutes to rest before we can cut it.

Using this routine, I begin to make bread at 4:30 PM and we are ready to eat at 7:00 PM. When we need to eat earlier, we simply eat the day old one, which is still really good and keep the fresh bread under a clean linen towel for breakfast.

I always make 2 loaves. We're 5 at home and my men (3 sons and my husband) have an excellent appetite. One loaf is usually eaten as soon as off the oven. The other is half to all liquidated the day after, depending on what I cook (less bread is eaten on pasta or couscous days.) I keep any leftovers in the freezer to make croutons or breadcrumbs. There's also the occasionnal french toast we make from frozen leftover bread.

"Pain de Ménage" means "Household Bread". "Ménagère" stands for "housewife". Lots of recipes in France are called "de ménage". When I see that, I know this will be a simple, straightforward, down-to-earth recipe suitable to make with staples usually found in a classic pantry.

I'm giving you here the recipe for 2 loaves. Just divide it in half to obtain 1 loaf if it's all that you need.

I also give you directions to make it using a stand-up mixer. To make it by hand, simply follow the instructions using a bowl to mix water, eggs, sugar, salt and yeast then add flour to obtain a supple, soft and kneadable dough. Put the formed dough on a kitchen counter to knead it by hand for 20 minutes or longer (up to 30 minutes) if you have the energy, adding more flour by the 1/4 cup until it doesn't stick to the hands but is supple to work with.

Pain de Ménage

2 cups tepid water
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons quick rise yeast
5 to 6 cups AP flour (or half AP and half whole wheat)

In the bowl of the stand-up mixer fitted with the dough hook, pour the water and add to it all the ingredients except the four.

Mix to break the eggs with a wire whisk.

Add 4 cups of the flour and knead on medium low speed. Once all the water is absorbed and while the machine is kneading, add more flour, half a cup a time. Wait for the flour to be all absorbed in the dough to add an other half a cup of it.

When the dough forms a ball around the hook and is sticking only at the very bottom of the bowl, rise the speed of the machine to medium-high and let it knead for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to a large area of the bottom of the bowl, add flour, a 1/4 cup at a time (lower the speed of the machine no flour doesn't fly out everywhere around your mixer) until only about 1 inch "circle" remains stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Knead the dough by hand on the counter for few seconds and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate and put it in the cold oven, pilot lamp on (the lamp will bring the oven temperature to a warm, suitable one for dough to rise). Allow the dough to double in bulk, wich happens in 30 to 45 minutes depending on the conditions of your kitchen or if it's winter or summer.

When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and knead it a bit in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate and put back in the oven, pilot lamp still on. Allow to rise for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the conditions of your kitchen.

After this time, divide the dough in 2 parts on a floured surface. You can shape it in rolls, or mold it in loaf-pans, or simply form loaves by hand. If you don't use loaf-pans, put the formed bread on a floured (or baking paper lined) cookie sheet.

As soon as you have formed the bread, pre-heat the oven to 375º F (190 to 200º C). It'll need to be well preheated so let it on for at least 20 minutes before you put your bread in (if the oven isn't hot enough, the bread will develop a hard crust and you run the risk of a dense crumb.)

When your shaped bread has risen to almost the double (don't wait till it's doubled in bulk) if you wish you can give a few slits on its surface with a sharp exacto knife right before you put it in the oven. Bake 30 to 45 minutes depending on the shape you gave it. The bread must make a shallow sound when tapped with fingers underneath.

Sometimes it will brown rather quickly, before it is cooked, in that case, lay an aluminium sheet on top. No need to enclose the bread in it, just lay it loosely on it.

When cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack. If you like really soft, supple crust, cover it with a clean kitchen towel immediately upon removal from the oven and let it covered until it is cool.

Bon appétit !