an apple, water, flour

Those are the ingredients in the French country bread I made. It took a week from the time I chopped up the apple and added water (which after a few days began to ferment) and eventually, when flour was added, produced the yeasty basis for the bread.
I am still amazed at this process and the successful result I had! I heap credit on William Alexander's book 52 Loaves which inspired me with his year-long quest to reproduce a peasant bread he had tasted years earlier and couldn't get out of his mind. It's a wonderful, often funny journey that takes him to France and on visits to food scientists and flour producers as he develops his recipe.

The bottom photo shows the container of "levain" or starter which stays in the refrigerator, ready for making the next loaf.

Today I tried two new bread recipes. One is from the gorgeous new book "Sarabeth's Bakery" and the recipe is "House Bread." When I saw the full page photo of this bread in the book I knew I had to try it. It just came out of the oven so I haven't tried it yet...The other recipe is "Amy Scherber's Whole Wheat Walnut Bread." This bread is made with a biga or pre-ferment which is a mixture of a tiny bit of yeast, some flour and water all stirred together and allowed to sit for 8 hrs or more. Then this very elastic "pre dough" is added along with more yeast and the rest of the ingredients. That loaf came out of the oven earlier and I did have a slice, thickly spread with butter oh so good!

These two bakers have shops in NYC. For me, a good reason to plan a trip!