{"id":3399,"date":"2017-11-24T16:19:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T21:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recipephany.com\/?p=3399"},"modified":"2023-08-11T14:10:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T18:10:44","slug":"pain-de-mie-or-pullman-loaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/recipephany.com\/?p=3399","title":{"rendered":"Pain de Mie, or Pullman Loaf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh, those French bakers. They take great pains (no pun intended) to make slender baguettes with thick, shatteringly crisp crusts. And yet, as if to thumb their noses at the whole artisan baking thing, they also crank out rectangular sandwich loaves with virtually no crusts at all.<\/p>\n

Pain de mie (\u201cbread of crumb\u201d) is the anti-baguette. A baguette takes days to make and goes stale after three hours. Pain de mie takes about three hours to make and stays fresh for days. (Julia Child said it tastes even better after a day or two.)<\/p>\n

Enriched with milk, pain de mie delights with a fine, light crumb and holds its shape even when sliced thin for sandwiches. But as good as it tastes, and as tender as it is through-and-through, the real fun lies in its angularity. You\u2019ll cut perfectly square slices and perfectly cubed cubes. It makes adorable toast and French toast, and ideal grilled cheese.<\/p>\n

The right angles come courtesy of the Pullman loaf pan, once a specialty item that\u2019s now easy to find online. Its lid keeps the dough from crowning as it bakes. For my first loaf, I half expected the dough to balloon up and ooze out all over the oven, \u00e0 la Lucy. But the dough accepted its confinement, and the top came\"Small<\/a> out perfectly flat, as advertised.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s \u201cPullman,\u201d as in Pullman railway cars. Although these crustless loaves originated in 18th<\/sup> Century Europe, they became popular in America when the Pullman Company baked them in their small on-board kitchens. Three of these stackable loaves could squeeze in where only two round-top breads would fit.<\/p>\n

My 101-year-old mother recalls the fine dining on family train trips in the 1920s and 30s. She would peer into those compact Pullman kitchens\u2014careful not to get underfoot\u2014as chefs quickly prepared elegant meals to order, despite the tight quarters.<\/p>\n

So get on board and try this simple recipe for classic, first-class sandwich bread.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em> Most recipes call for the traditional 13\u201d x 4\u201d x 4\u201d lidded Pullman loaf pan. This recipephany uses the smaller, more convenient 9\u201d x 4\u201d x 4\u201d pan.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pain de Mie, or Pullman Loaf
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Adapted from King Arthur Flour\u2019s \u201cA Smaller Pain de Mie\u201d Recipe<\/a><\/p>\n

Equipment: 9\u201d x 4\u201d x 4\u201d Pullman loaf pan (from King Arthur Flour or from USA Pan Bakeware), lightly greased inside the pan and the lid\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n