Lou Decruss > wrote:

> Anyone have experience with them and care to share dough recipes or
> toppings or any incite? I don't remember this ever being discussed
> here before.

Pain de mie, all crumb and no crust, is probably my least favourite
French bread. BTW, the Vietnamese "bánh mì" is said to be a corruption
of "pain de mie".

Here is a recipe by Denis Ruffel, a famous Parisian pastry chef. The
recipe is from _The Food Lover's Guide to Paris_, 3rd edition, by
Patricia Wells, complete with her introduction.

Victor

Pain de mie Denis Ruffel
Denis Ruffel's Sandwich Loaf

This is France's firm, fine-grained sandwich loaf: milky, just slightly
sweet, and delicious when fresh and toasted. Denis Ruffel, from
_Ptisserie Millet_, the Left Bank pastry shop, manages to turn a single
loaf of _pain de mie_ into an entire buffet, making dozens of tiny,
highly decorated, open-face sandwiches. He'll top some with caviar or
smoked salmon and lemon triangles, others with a blend of Roquefort,
walnuts and butter, and still others with thin slices of sausages topped
with piped butter rosettes. The _mie_, by the way, is the crumb, or
non-crusty portion of any bread, and since this bread has virtually no
crust, it's called _pain de mie_. Some Paris bakes advertise _pain de
mie au beurre_, to distinguish their bread from those made with
margarine. The loaf is usually made in a special pan fitted with a
sliding cover, which helps mold the bread into a tidy rectangle. The
molds are available at many cookware shops, although the bread can be
made in any straight-sided loaf pan. To obtain a neat rectangular loaf,
cove the dough-filled loaf pan with foil and a baking sheet, then weight
the sheet with a brick or other heavy object and bake.

1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 oz; 45 g), at room temperature,
plus 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz; 15 g) for buttering the bowl and loaf
pan
1 tablespoon or 1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups (385 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, combine the milk, the 3 tablespoons butter, yeast,
and sugar, stir, and set aside for 5 minutes to proof the yeast.

2. Once proofed, stir in the salt, then add the flour, cup by cup,
mixing well after each addition. Knead by hand for 2 or 3 minutes, or
until the dough forms a smooth ball. Place in a well-buttered, large
bowl (use some of the remaining 1 tablespoon butter) and cover securely
with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until double in bulk,
approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

3. Butter a 6-cup (1.5-liter) loaf pan, or the mold and cover of a
6-cup (1.5 liter) _pain de mie_ pan. If using a loaf pan, butter a
piece of aluminum foil to use as a lid. Punch down the dough, knead for
1 minute, then transfer it to the pan or mold. Press down the dough
smoothly, being sure it fills the corners, and cover. Let rise until
double in bulk, another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. About 30 minutes before the dough is ready to be baked, preheat the
oven to 375°F (190°C).

5. Bake until the loaf is golden brown, about 45 minutes. (If using a
loaf pan cover with buttered foil and a baking sheet, then weight the
sheet with a brick or other heavy object.) Unmold immediately and cool
on a rack. The bread will stay fresh for several days, wrapped and
stored at room temperature. _Pain de mie_ also freezes well.

Yield: 1 loaf

On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:44:40 +0200, (Victor Sack)
wrote:

>Lou Decruss > wrote:
>
>> Anyone have experience with them and care to share dough recipes or
>> toppings or any incite? I don't remember this ever being discussed
>> here before.
>
>Pain de mie, all crumb and no crust, is probably my least favourite
>French bread.

<shrug> Isn't is just to hold the good stuff? I didn't think it was
supposed to be the star of the show.

Thanks for the recipe and notes! The ones I've had were very much as
described and delicious. There's a few recipes in the paperwork that
came with it but only one sentence about the toppings to I'll have to
do some digging. This is something I'll probably not use much but
it's more impressive than bringing a bag of chips to a party. We've
got friends who have an 87 foot boat they do weddings and other events
on. If they have an un-booked night they invite folks for a party.
The food is always upscale and this would be perfect.

Thanks again,

<snip recipe-saved>

Lou