Your recipe for pane francese makes a very similar loaf, using a lump of "old dough" as a starter, and no pre-bake slashing. I find it simpler to hold back a ball of dough for the next loaf than to maintain a starter. As with this recipe, the long rise is essential--I've rushed the 3-step rise for a pane francese from start to end in 8 hours but it's a much better loaf with a 12-18 hour total rise time. Julia, thanks for the reminder - that pane francese recipe is indeed a good one... PJH

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