>
>From: "Marti Rosalin" <mrosalin@earthlink.net>
>Subject: Help - bread/rolls from mashed potatoes?
>Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 10:19:29 -0800
>
>
>OnThanksgiving, one of my guests who is originally from England, fondly
>remembered his mother making a sort of bread or rolls from left-over mashed
>potatoes. He said she added flour and milk, maybe an egg, rolled it out and
>cut it into squares and baked it. They came out about an inch high. Did not
>remember if any yeast was involved. He has been trying to reconstruct them
>for years. (he's retirement age). Does anyone have any idea what he is
>referring to? I would love to give him a recipe for them.
>
>Thanks for any help you can give me.
>
>Marti Rosalin
>mrosalin@earthlink.net
This bread is made from mashed potatoes, and while I don't use leftovers, I
suppose you could. And, I usually form it into a baguette rather than
press it into a pan. It also works well for pizza dough or fougasse. The
recipe comes from Chez Nous by Lydie Marshall. (so I guess that makes it
French rather than English!! Nonetheless, it is based on mashed potatoes
& flour.)
Potato Bread Dough
Makes 2 pounds dough
1 1/4 pounds baking potatoes (russet)
1/2 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp salt
In a pan, cover the potatoes with cold salted water and bring to a boil.
Partially cover and cook for 30 minutes or until tender.
Drain the potatoes, reserving 1/4 cup of potato water. Add the cold milk
to the hot potato water. Sprinkle the yeast & sugar over it and set aside
in a warm place for 15 minutes.
Making Bread with a Heavy Duty Mixer:
Peel the hot potatoes and transfer to the bowl of a heavy-duty mix fitted
with a flat paddle. Beat the potatoes until mashed. Wait for a few minutes
until the potatoes are just warm.
Start beating the yeast mixture into the mashed potatoes. Mix the flour and
salt together. Gradually beat in the flour, 1/4 cup at a time at first. In
winter, the author stops adding flour after 2 cups, and waits 20 minutes
before continuing to add the remaining flour. When the dough sticks to the
beater and cleans the bowl, add the remaining flour tablespoon by tablespoon.
Making Bread by Hand
Mash the hot potatoes in a ricer in a large mixing bowl. Wait a few minutes
for the potatoes to cool.
With a wooden spoon, stir the yeast mixture into the mashed potatoes. Mix
the flour and salt together. Gradually beat in the flour, 1/4 cup at a
time. In winter, the author stops adding flour after 2 cups, and waits 20
minutes before adding the remaining flour.
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag. Let rise at room temperature until the
dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours in winter or 1 hour in summer.
Sprinkle flour on the risen dough and knead it for about 1 minute, adding
more flour if necessary, especially during humid days, but remember the
dough should be soft, much softer than for a classic bread dough.
Refrigerate the dough covered with plastic wrap.
I suppose you could try pressing it into the pan at this point, but I make
baguettes:
Baguettes
makes 4 16-inch long and 2 1/2 inch thick baguettes.
Potato Bread Dough, refrigerated after its first rising
1 tsp butter or olive oil to grease the molds
1 tbsp olive oil to brush the top of the uncooked baguettes
Flour your hands and lightly knead the cold dough; it will be very soft.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
Brush botter of olive oil in baguette molds.
Shape each piece into a 16-inch long sausage (adjust the length according
to your baguette molds)
The dough will only half-fill each mold at this point.
Clip the top every 1/2 inch with scissors. Brush olive oil over the top.
Heat the oven to 150 F (or warm) for 5 minutes. Turn off and place
the bread molds in the turned-off oven for 30 minutes or until the dough
fills the molds. Remove from the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Unmold on a cake rack and wait 1/2 hour before serving.
This dough also works very well for pizza & pissaladiere.
Alexis MacPherson.
alexis@dccnet.com