Bordeaux Rustic Bread (Pain Rustique Bordelais)

Nick Malgieri

• Ready In: 11 hrs 40 mins
• Yields: 3 loaves

Ingredients

• Starter

• 1⁄2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1⁄4 cup warm water, about 110 degrees
• 1⁄2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• Dough

• 1 1⁄2 cups warm water, about 110 degrees
• 1  teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3  cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1  cup  rye flour (medium or whole grain)
• 2  teaspoons salt

Directions

1. You will need 2 jelly roll pans, dusted with cornmeal.
2. The starter: in a bowl, whisk the yeast into the water and then stir in the flour; cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 8 hours in a cool place.
3. If the room is warm, let the sponge rise at room temperature for 1 hour, then for the remaining 7 hours let it rise in the refrigerator.
4. When the starter is done, make the dough--place the water in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk in the yeast by hand.
5. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the starter into the water and mix it in.
6. Add both flours and the salt, and use the rubber spatula to mix the ingredients into a rough dough.
7. Place the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook and mix on lowest speed for 2 minutes; allow the dough to rest 10 minutes.
8. Mix on medium speed until dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky, about 2 minutes.
9. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and turn it over so that the top is oiled; allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
10. To form the loaves, scrape the dough onto a floured work surface; shape the dough into a 12-inch square; cut into three 4 x 12 inch rectangles, using a knife or bench scraper.
11. Transfer the loaves to the prepared pans, placing 2 on one pan and 1 on the other.
12. Cover the loaves with cloth or plastic wrap and allow them to rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
13. About 15 minutes before the loaves are completely risen, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 450°.
14. Place the pans in the oven and bake until the loaves are beginning to color well, about 20 minutes.
15. Turn the pans from back to front, then place the top pan on the lower rack and the bottom pan on the upper rack; close the oven and decrease temperature to 350°.
16. Bake until the loaves are deep golden and the internal temperature reaches about 200 degrees, about 20 additional minutes.
17. Cool loaves on racks.
18. Serve: cut the bread into 1-inch slices.