Our Home Works

I can hardly believe that I made this bread with my own hands and my own oven.  Perhaps it is the Irish in me that can’t resist anything with potatoes…  I am not going to overanalyze - I love this bread.

Looking to expand my bread horizons, I visited my favorite place to buy cookbooks - J Michaels.  J Michaels is a locally owned bookshop and just happens to be close to Matt’s office so I visit it often.  Their current bread cookbook collection is a bit limited, but I found this treasure - Beard on Bread.  It is frequently referenced in bread recipes by experienced breadmakers, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong.  If this recipe is any indication, my purchase was a good one.

The bread is moist, but not dense.  I had two slices with butter and apple butter for breakfast this morning and thought I was in heaven.

Potato Bread, from Beard on Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

1 package active yeast

1/2 cup plis 1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup warm water (100F to 115F)

1 cup potato water (water that potatoes are cooked in)

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened in the potato water

1-1/2 Tbsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup mashed potatoes (I used a potato masher)

6 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast, 1 Tbsp sugar in the warm water and let proof for 5 minutes.  Add potato water, butter, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, eggs and stir to blend thoroughly.  It took me a while to get the butter completely combined. Add the mashed potatoes and stir well.  Add the flour one cup at a time, stirring well after each addition to make a stiff dough.  Beard says you may not need all of the flour, but I did.

Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead 10-12 minutes.  If you used a potato masher, ensure there aren’t potato lumps in the dough.  I had a few and just eliminated them in the kneading process.  Shape into a ball, butter a large mixing bowl.  Place the dough ball in the bowl, turning to coat each side.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight (about 16 hours) to let rise.

Remove from refrigerator and punch down.  Put on a floured surface and let rest for about 5 minutes.  Knead for 4-5 minutes and let rest again for 5 minutes.  Shape into 2 loaves by rolling dough into a rectangle with one side being the length of the loaf plan and the other side being about double the length of the loaf pan on the other side.  Roll the dough into a sausage by tucking one edge in, like you would roll a piece of paper into a tube.  Put dough rolls into loaf pans and let rise until doubled in size, about 4 hours.  Preheat the oven to 375F and bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes.  Remove the bread from the tins to a cooling rack.  When the bread is done, you will get a hollow sound when you rap the bottom of the loaf pan.  Cool thoroughly before slicing.

For more information and recipes on beans and grains, click here.

Tags: Bread, grains