Hello,

Has anyone here tried the recipe for "Pain de Campagne Poilane" from Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads"???

I made the starter last night, and followed the recipe exactly as it is in the book (page 226)

This morning I looked at the starter. It seems to be fermenting quite nicely, but hasn't risen even the slightest. And is this starter supposed to be

so watery? It just seems rather watery and thin for a starter. And the author makes no mention as to how it should be until after the "sponge" is

added.

So if anyone has any insights on this recipe, I'd really like to hear it. Thanks.

Tory 

I baked this very large, rustic Italian loaf (pagnotta) a couple weeks ago from Daniel Leader’s wonderful new book, Local Breads, page 197.  He states that it is to bake until almost black or charred for the most authentic loaf.  I didn’t go quite that far but you can see it developed a lot of color which I always prefer in my loaves.