Ever since I made the potato-rosemary bread in Peter Reinhart's "The Bread
Baker's Apprentice," I've been fooling around with the recipe to make it
into a dill bread. I think I've done it and I hope all y'all will try it
and enjoy it.
To begin with, you should know that when I emptied a jar of dill pickles a
week ago, I saved the juice.
Okay, here we go:
Bob the Tarheel Baker's "It's a Dilly" Bread...
Enough instant mashed potatoes to make 3-1/2 cups (you purists can use
regular potatoes, but I guarantee you won't know the difference)
2 tablespoons instant yeast
2 cups liquid from jarred dill pickles
About 8 cups of unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
3 tablespoons sugar (I used Splenda)
3 tablespoons dried dill
2 tablespoons sea salt
4 large eggs, 3 lightly beaten
1. Make the instant mashed potatoes per package directions and set aside
to cool.
Measure out 3-1/2 cups when cool.
2. In a very large bowl, mix the yeast, bread flour, milk powder, sugar,
dill, and sea salt. Mix the 3 beaten eggs to the dill pickle liquid and
then add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring to mix
thoroughly. Using your hands, work all of the cooled mashed potatoes into
the flour mixture. Mix until a soft, lumpy dough forms.
3. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until
smooth, about 10 minutes. You want a smooth, satiny dough that is slightly
sticky. Put the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic
wrap (I use shower caps that I filch from hotels and motels), and let rise
for about 45 minutes, or until doubled.
4. After the dough had risen, I cut the dough in half, formed a ball with
one half, and returned it to the bowl. I covered it and put it in my
fridge for an overnight retarded rise. I divided the second half into even
amounts about half the size of tennis balls. It turned out that there were
ten of them. I placed the balls in two rows of five so that they slightly
touched each other on an oiled baking sheet (actually I used my
Silpat). Then I covered them with a damp towel and let them rise until
doubled, about 45 minutes.
During this rise, I preheated my oven to 375F.
5. Just before baking, I mixed the remaining egg with a tablespoon of
water and brushed the top of each ball. Bake the loaf for about 30-35
minutes, covering with foil after the first five minutes to prevent the
tops from burning. When the tops are lightly golden (about 20 minutes),
remove the foil so the top will brown evenly. Bake an additional ten or so
minutes or until the interior temperature taken with an instant-read
thermometer reaches 190F. Transfer the loaf to a rack to cool thoroughly
before slicing.
Note: Your oven will be different than mine, so, if you make this bread,
watch it closely the first time so you can adjust the baking time.
The next day, I made two boules from the remaining dough. Baking time was
a bit longer because of the difference in shape.
If you like the smell of dill, this bread will knock your socks off while
it is baking.
My mother-in-law is visiting us and she said it is the best bread she has
ever had, and she is 86 years old.