Finally caved and bought A Girl and her Pig, where author April Bloomfield writes about her food… loved this book btw. Great book on seasonal food, simple recipes taken to higher levels by means of simplicity and respect for the integrity of the ingredients… and there it was, a potato bread recipe.

Never made this before and my only exposure to potato bread was probably from Ralph’s and I loved it. Making my own was a totally different thing, I opted to not follow the recipe exactly because I didn’t have the exact ingredients at hand and I’ve been craving garlic all day. The result could have been more successful had I adjusted the water content of my recipe better, hard thing to do when I’m not even sure what Im doing, but not too shabby given this is my first potato bread. It was just a little too moist inside, but the crust was great and the flavor was also great. I’m correcting the excess moist by dehydrating the bread in the oven slowly. Next time it will be better! I hope!

Gear:

Mixing bowl to mash the taters and mix the dough.
Silicon spatula.
Small bowl to proof the yeast.
Measuring cups 1/4 and 1/1
Paring Knife to peal the potatoes.
Medium sized pot to boil the potatoes.
Bread mold.
Oven preheated to 450f
cookie sheet to add water to oven, place before heating.
Surface to knead dough, or use stand mixer (I didnt this time)

Ingredients:

500g yukon potatoes (April calls for russet, but I had none)
2 1/2 cups of bread flour (April calls for AP flour but I had none)
1/4 C potato cooking water
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp dry basil
1 packet of dry yeast

Method:

01: peel potatoes
02: place in pot with water just enough to cover them
03: bring to a boil. 10-20 mins, till potatoes are tender
04: strain and reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid
05: let potatoes and liquid to come to tepid temp
06: add yeast to cooking liquid and let proof until foamy
07: mash potatoes (i used my hands)
08: food process olive oil, salt and garlic until smooth
09: mix mash, garlic puree, basil, flour, yeast liquid and mix by hand
10: knead until elastic, 10-15mins, add more flour if dough is too runny/sticky
11: first rise, about 1 hour
12: second rise, about 1 hour
14: place dough in bread mold
15: third rise, about 20 mins on top of oven (not needed but i kinda had to)
16: preheated oven at 450f, place bread in it.
18: add about a cup of water on cookie sheet, water will vaporize.
19: bake until golden.
20: place bread on cooling rack. let rest for 30mins until starches set.

Note:

Keeping moisture in the oven is key when baking. Adding water by spraying it or pouring it on a cookie sheet sitting at the bottom will help heat transfer better and will delay hardening (during) the outer crust too soon which will prevent the bread from expanding enough.

done.

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