Thursday, September 19, 2013

Potato and Rosemary Bread

I'm nuts over cookbooks, I know most of you are too! Haha! When I was at BookXcess several months ago, could not help adding another bread making book to my collection, especially since it is quite cheap. :o)

I bought "Bread Revolution", and the first recipe that I've tried from this book is Potato and Rosemary Bread, one which I really like! It uses three of my favourite ingredients, potato, rosemary and garlic, which are so perfect for each other, and now pairs so well in a bread.


Russet potato, garlic and rosemary

Firstly you will need to roast the garlic still in their skins until the flesh is soft and tender. The potato is peeled, cut to chunks and boil till tender, then mashed. Do not throw away the water from the boiled potato, use it for the recipe, replacing the water. The rosemary are finely chopped. Refer to the instructions in the recipe below for the steps that follows.


This book is all about making the bread by hand. There's no instructions on using the stand mixer or the bread machine. The steps are really easy to follow, though for impatient me, I can get easily irritated with sticky dough sticking to my hands, but according to the two authors, be persistent and continue on. Wow, they knew! Haha! OK, I'm a good gal and followed their advice. :)

The dough is rather sticky, I guess, mostly due to the mashed potato, and I ended up using about an additional 1 cup of flour. Our hot and humid weather is not helping either, it does affect the water absorption of the flour. The next time I will reduce the water instead. Even though the recipe says to knead until the window-pane stage, I never did get to that stage, and figured that the dough would be fine after kneading for some time, about 20 minutes, and carry on with the next step as per the instructions in the recipe.


This recipe makes a very huge loaf, next time I'll divide the dough and make them into two smaller loaves instead. It has a lovely crust, somewhat soft when the bread is cool.


The bread texture is soft and very tasty. And it stays as soft the very next day too.


A lovely bread eaten with salted butter, and is so delicious with hot mushroom soup. This recipe is a keeper.


Potato & Rosemary Bread
(adapted from "Bread Revolution", Duncan Glendinning & Patrick Ryan)
Makes 1 large 800gm or 2lb loaf
1/2 bulb of garlic
200 gm (7 oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
500 gm (1 lb 2 oz / 3-1/3 cups) strong white bread flour (I've used an additional 1 cup)
10 gm (2 tsp) fine sea salt (I use 1-1/4 tsp)
2 heaped tsp chopped rosemary leaves
10 gm (2 tsp) fresh yeast or 7 gm (1-1/2 tsp) dried or fast-action yeast
250 ml (9 fl oz / 1 cup) water (I use water from the boiled potatoes)
3 tsp rapeseed or olive oil

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4) and put the garlic, with its skin on, in a roasting dish. Bake for about 20 minutes or until soft. Squeeze out the flesh from three garlic cloves. You can give yourself a head start by doing this in advance and use the rest of the garlic as the perfect addition to soups and mashed potato.
  2. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and mash - or if you have some boiled potatoes or mash left over from last night's dinner, even better. (If the mash is creamy, hold back a little of the water when you mix it into the flour).
  3. Mix the flour with the salt, rosemary, garlic and potato in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crumble the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Pour the yeasted water and the oil into the well and bring together into a dough with your hands or with a spatula. At this point, things may get a little messy but be persistent and continue mixing. As the flour is incorporated the dough will start to take shape.
  4. Turn the dough out on to a clean kitchen surface and knead for 10 minutes or until you achieve the windowpane effect. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to prove for about 60-80 minutes or until doubled in size.
  5. Turn the dough out on to a clean surface and knock it back, then allow it to rest for about five minutes. Shape the dough into a loaf as desired, or pop it into a lightly oiled large loaf tin. Cover the loaf with a damp cloth and allow to prove again for 50-60 minutes. The loaf should double in size.
  6. Preheat the oven to 220C (425F/Gas 7) and put a roasting tray in the bottom. When ready to bake, place the loaf in the oven and steam by adding ice cubes or cold water to the tray. Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes, until golden and the base sounds hollow.
#94/100
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25 comments:

  1. that loaf looks absolutely amazing!! lovely flavors - I'm nuts over my cookbooks too!
    Mary x

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  2. Lately I've been baking bread quite often and breads with potatoes are one of my favourite.
    I love the combo garlic + rosmarin and I'll add this to my "to bake list".
    Many many thanks for sharing it with "Bake Your Own Bread-Il Cestino del Pane".
    Absolutely delicious!

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  3. Lovely bread with rosemary and potato...

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  4. Joyce, your bread looks great! I will be checking out the book since it's about making bread by hand. Thanks for the recipe and cookbook info!

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  5. Hi Joyce.
    The bread is so lovely. I love rosemary.
    It must be very yummy.

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  6. Ooh, Joyce, I love how crusty your bread looks and I'm sure it smells even better with the fragrance of rosemary :) Haha, like you I could never resist a good cookbook nevertheless and even more so, a good deal like that ;) All that's missing is a piping hot bowl of hearty soup to soak up that bread YUMS!!

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  7. Must be soft and fragrance, happy mooncake festivals, Joyce!

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  8. Wholesome and mouthwatering bread.
    Deepa

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  9. The texture of your bread looks so good and I love the additional flavours. I have to try this one.

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  10. Hi Joyce , the texture and color of your bread is just awesome and this is a must bake thanks for sharing :).

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  11. Joyce I really love bread and this look amazing!!

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  12. I've never made or eaten potato bread, but what's better with potatoes than garlic and rosemary? This sounds so good, Joyce. Thank you for linking this week.

    Oh-sticky dough annoys me too!

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  13. These looks delicious and healthy!

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  14. Rosemary and potato sounds like it'll go really well together. This bread looks so soft and fluffy.

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  15. This is a very beautiful loaf, Joyce.

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  16. Such a beautiful bread, fantastic with prefect crust.

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  17. What a beautiful bread! I love rosemary, so I'm sure this would be a quick favorite!

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  18. If you say its a keeper, i definitely must try, Joyce :)
    It looks real delicious!

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  19. Oh,the texture of this bread looks soft and fluffy. Must be good and healthy for breakfast! :)

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  20. Joyce, I am beginning to love rosemary now! I have bookmarked this bread recipe but only God knows when I will actually get down to it hah! hah!

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  21. Hi Joy,
    I can almost smell this awesome bread as it comes out of the oven. It needs to be coming out of my oven very soon! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great week!
    Miz Helen

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  22. Heavenly Joyce! I love Potato Bread and with Garlic & Rosemary in it, it must be truly delicious. I have always found potato bread to stay fresh longer than traditional white bread. Using the potato water is really the key.

    Thank you so much for sharing, I sure wish I could have just one hunk!

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  23. I can imagine the fragrance of the bread, looks nice!

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  24. additional one cup of flour? the dough must be really wet ..i hardly knead to window pane stage too..sounds lovely bread tho :)

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