According to DuPaigne's "History of Bread", potato bread was known as
the "poor man's bread" because the potato, newly introduced to Europe
from the Americas, was looked upon with suspicion by the aristocracy
and was thought to cause all manner of diseases and
ailments. Parmentier, the world's first bread scientist, took an
interest in potatoes and recognized the benefit of using the potato
as a wheat substitute during times of famine. He developed potato
bread recipes and potato cooking methods and eventually popularized
the potato, even convincing Louis XVI to wear a potato flower as a
corsage. Through such events history is made.
I have been making this delicious potato bread for many years. The
dough is 1/2 potato and 1/2 wheat flour and comes from Baking with
Julia, by Julia Child. The recipe is credited to Leslie Mackie.
Potato Bread
1 1/2 lbs. russet potatoes, washed and scrubbed un-peeled (about 3)
4 tsp salt
1/2 cup reserved warm potato water (see below)
1 Tbs Active Dry yeast or a scant Tb instant yeast
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
4 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Quarter the potatoes length-wise and add them to a 2 quart pot, add 2
tsp of the salt, cover with water (about 2 cups +/-). Boil the
potatoes until a knife pierces them easily, reserve 1/2 cup of the
starchy, salty water, then spread the quartered potatoes on a rack to
cool and dry. Let the water cool and the potatoes cool and dry for
20 - 30 minutes.
There are two tricks to this bread: getting the salt right and
getting the moisture right. The salty potato water provides some of
the salt so don't overfill the boiling pot and dilute the salt. Note
that this recipe uses only the 1/2 cup of potato water for almost 5
cups of flour. That is a tiny amount of water. By itself the added
water could never moisten that much flour. As you will see, the
remaining moisture comes out of the apparently dry boiled potatoes as
you knead the dough. (remember; most foods are 90% water by weight).
When the potatoes are cool and dry use the flat beater on your mixer
to mash them, peel and all. Dissolve the yeast in the warm potato
water (you may have to re-warm the water in the microwave if you are
using active dry yeast). When the potatoes are mashed smooth, add
the yeast mixture and olive oil. Continue to blend the liquids and
the mashed potatoes for two minutes.
Switch to the dough hook and, while mixing, add the flour and
remaining (2 tsp) salt. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes. At first
the dough looks like a dry pie crust dough with lots of un-moistened
bit of flour. Fear not! Turn the mixture to medium, (2 on my Viking)
and watch the magic. After 5 minutes the dough will come together
and will at least look like a too-firm bread dough. After 10 to 11
minutes the dough will have softened to the texture of a normal bread
dough. The trick is not to panic and start adding water early in the
mixing. Most doughs firm up with mixing while this one softens up
with mixing so you can't really tell how you are doing until minute
10 or 11. You won't really know until the end whether or not you
will have to add a few Tbs of water.
Caution; The mixer is working very hard while the dough is in the
too-firm stage. If you have a mixer with plastic gears, like most
new KA's, you might want to cut the recipe in half. My Viking just
blows right through it.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. This dough has so much potato in it that
it cannot stand up to a long final rise, it will collapse. I let the
dough double for the first rise, punch it down hard, shape it into a
boule, then let it rise for only 1/2 hour more. Slash the boule to
allow for oven rise. Use whatever artisan baking and steam generating
methods you are comfortable with. I bake it on a stone covered with
a large preheated terra cotta flower pot to get a deep crust. The
potato bread should bake for 45 to 50 minutes or to an internal
temperature of 200 F.
With a deeply browned crust the finished loaf looks like a giant
potato. The slashed areas have a beautiful golden brown color, like a
buttered baked potato. Besides being an excellent accompaniment to
almost any meal, it makes great sandwiches and superb French toast.
Variations:
Rosemary Potato Bread: 3 Tb fresh coarsely chopped rosemary, less if
dried, add to dough while mixing.
Roasted Garlic Potato Bread: cut the top from a head of garlic,
drizzle with olive oil, roast until tender, squeeze out the garlic,
rough chop and add to dough while mixing.
Roasted Onion Potato Bread: Cut top from an onion, cut an "X" into
the base, drizzle with olive oil, roast until tender, peel, rough
chop and add to dough while mixing.
Roasted onion and garlic will breakdown and distribute evenly while
kneading. Fresh onion can be chopped fine and added to the base
recipe for a more "oniony" Potato and Onion Bread.