Instructions: Mix yeast with warm water and let sit till creamy, about 15 minutes. Measure flour into bowl, add yeast mix and cool water, mix until thoroughly combined. Cover and let sit in refrigerator 24 hours to two weeks before using. Freeze what is not used short-term.

Serving Ideas : For use in Italian Bread (Pagnotta) [see recipe]

NOTES : Italian bread is simple, but making it is not. A good recipe is a two-day process. The first day you make "biga", a firm sponge using just flour, water and yeast. This sits in the fridge overnight. The next day you mix some of the biga with more flour, water and yeast to make the bread. (Leftover biga is frozen for future bread- making, so succeeding sessions complete in one day.) Note, no oil or sweeteners are used. The biga seems to supply the elasticity or chewiness that makes it something like French bread. Its delicious, but as I say, more work than you think.

A complete recipe follows, based on "The Il Fornaio Baking Book" by Franco Galli. Their recipe is a little more sophisticated, but I like the results I get from this slightly simplified procedure.

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