I am just back from a short trip to this lovely place from France, called Provence. Endless violet lavender fields, red poppy fields, large sunflower fields and lots of aromatic herbs that grow almost wild. These are precious memories that lasts forever in my mind. The smell of fresh rosemary bushes is still so intense ... I just need to close my eyes and I travel there instantly.
Now, coming back with my feet on the ground, of course, I couldn't resist to extend a bit these great memories from Provence by making a sourdough bread. What else it could have been than a bread with Provence herbs? Just smelling this bread makes my mind go on holidays ...

Combining different flours with some seeds in a bread makes the taste of it more brought from the country side. This is what happened with this recipe. An uniform aerated crumb structure, with an almost equal medium sized boules inside made it a bread to remember.

How much I love cherries during the summer ! I couldn't resist to through them in an icecream too. Here it is... quick, simple and delicious.

I am going to give you a hint: when you want to make a simple bread but with a rich flavor/taste, then take some wheat flour, make a dough respecting the hydration proportions (for 1000g of flour add 700g water), add sourdough(~200g) or yeast (~20g), add salt (20g) and add that little something that will make your bread outstanding. That little something can be seeds, dried fruits, vegetables or, why not, herbs. Herbs can be used in bread dough both in fresh or dried. When using fresh, of course you need to increase 3 or 4 times the quantity.
For this bread I used dried parsley, but nothing prevents you to use fresh. You can use any type of aromatic herbs. This bread for me is one of the first with herbs but I have in mind to try some other aromas as well. Let's see how they will turn out ...

I've probably got an obsession lately, and this is to make a pink bread. I have tried first with wine. Even if that bread was a failure, the crumb was a dark brown. Then I have tried with beet. I was so excited to get a lovely pink dough ... even my daughter wanted to play with. But surprise, after baking the bread, including the crumb turned into a dark yellow color. So, no pink bread ...

I've been inspired to make this bread from a blog I've read once. Unfortunately I've lost the original link so I tried a combination of my own. If the color was not pink, the taste had something from the sweetness and flavor of the beet. As texture, I have found it to be more soft then usual, both inside and outside.
An interesting trial and a good bread. Perfect to be served in the morning with a cup of tea.

A bread to share with friends at on a lovely summer day. Try it when was not yet cooled or cut it the next day and you will still love it.

From the crumbs of my failed bread I made 2 breads: first it was my Resurrected bread and then this one. It was not a big difference between them but the taste was distinct.

For the baking of this bread I have tried another schedule. Usually I bake my breads 15 minutes at 275º/260º C and then I reduce to 220º/230ºC and continue the baking for another 30 minutes. What I changed this time, was to bake for 30 minutes at maximum temperature (275ºC) and then stop the oven and let the breads inside to continue to cook, without opening the oven door, for another 20 minutes. The result is that you'll obtain a darker bread crust. You might also save a bit of energy as the bread will cook for the last 20 minutes with the heat captured inside the oven and maintained by the stone. At the end of the last 20 minutes, the temperature had fallen to 210ºC. This was high enough to continue the baking and to get a cooked crumb.

I failed my bread. Yes, you've read well, I've failed my bread. I was so excited to try a fancy bread with wine and it didn't raise almost at all in 8 hours. I was at least hoping that when put in the oven it would raise a bit. No chance ... it didn't and I ended up with an uneatable bread. I was aware that wine would not make big bubbles to my bread but anyway, I was not expecting such a big failure.
Nevertheless, as you probably know me, I do not like to through away good flour ... not even from from a failed bread. So, what did I do? I've cut the bread in small pieces with a knife and with a mixer with  blade I have transformed it in small crumbs. Then, I have used this (at least a part of it) as an ingredient for the bread you see in this post.
Now, if you want to make this recipe, of course you do not have to fail your first bread and then make this one. But if it happens to you to have some old dried bread or to fail your bread by mistake, then keep this recipe as a rescue and do not throw your old one away. Let's see how I've done it ...