Potato and Rosemary Bread

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.