Pain de Campagne

Pate fermentee made the day before, proofed overnight in the fridge & pictured above in small pieces & setting at room temperature to take off the chill...
Just a few ingredients...use dark rye flour along with regular bread flour...
Mixing the wet & dry ingredients...
A big glob of goo...
After 6 minutes of machine mixing - at the desired 80'degrees...
Smooth end product...
Two-hour room temperature ferment & the dough more than doubled in size...
Divided into two pieces of equal weight...
Shaping into a fendu (split bread)...

The other piece was shaped into a small boule with scissor cuts...
The other half piece was braided & then rolled into a knot...
Cuts with the super-sharp matfer...& the proofed at room temperature for one hour...
Baked at 500'degrees for a about a minuted & then reduced temperate to 450'degrees for an additional 20 minutes - Hearth style baking with a steam pan in place...
Beautiful!
The cuts & designs turned out just gorgeous...
The bread was light & airy...
& smelled so wonderful that my in-house food taster just had to have a nibble...
Fantastic with pesto & balsamic...a wonderful bread! Very fun to shape & turned out so attractive...