potatoes

Last weekend I baked some of the best rolls I've made to date using instant yeast instead of my usual sourdough or yeast water.  I didn't have time to refresh my starter which is why I had used the instant yeast.  I wanted to try a similar formula using a combo of sourdough starter and yeast water levain.  I decided to leave out the cream and the eggs for this version since I didn't want the bread to be quite as soft as the rolls even though with the oil, potatoes and polenta the final bread ended up pretty soft anyway.

The final bread tasted great with a nice sour tang but not too overpowering with a slight hint of sweetness from the honey.  The crumb was nice and open and moist and the crust per above was soft.  The dough did spread out more than I would have liked but overall this ended up being a nice tasty loaf.  If I were to make it again, I might reduce the moisture content slightly but other than that this one is a keeper.

Procedure

I used a combination of my white sourdough starter which I keep at 66% hydration and did a 3 stage build with my fruit flavored yeast water starter.

Yeast Water Starter Build 1

50 grams Bread Flour (KAF)

50 grams Yeast Water Starter

Mix the flour and Yeast Water in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 4 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.

Build 2

Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours.

100 grams Bread Flour

100 grams Yeast Water

Build 3

Add flour to starter from above and mix until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours or until bubbly and either use immediately or put in the refrigerator for the next day.

75 grams Bread Flour

Main Dough Ingredients

170 grams Refreshed AP Starter (65% hydration)

255 grams  Yeast Water Starter (you may have some extra from above)

400 grams Bread Flour (KAF)

100 grams Spelt Flour

160 grams Mashed Potatoes (I like to mash them with the skins on and used red potatoes)

50 grams Olive Oil

180 grams Cooked Polenta (I used some butter and parmesan cheese in mine)

16 grams Salt (Sea Salt or Table Salt)

40 grams Honey

397 grams Water (80 to 90 degrees F.)

Procedure

Mix the starters with the water and stir to break it up and make sure to hold back about 50 grams of water.  Next mix in the flours into the starter mixture and mix for 2 minutes with your mixer or by hand.    Let the dough autolyse for 30 minutes to an hour in your bowl covered with a cloth or plastic wrap.  Next add in the salt, mashed potatoes, polenta and oil and mix on speed #1 for 3 minutes and #2 for 2 minutes or by hand.  This dough is very wet but it should start to come together after mixing but will still be very wet.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl after the rest and do another stretch and fold and cover the dough in the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  (If the dough is still too lose, you can do several more stretch and folds until you are ready to put in the refrigerator). After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours.

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees. (I made a large Miche so I ended up lowering the temperature half way through to 435 degrees).  It should take around 20 - 30 minutes to bake  until both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an hour or so before eating as desired.

Crumb Close-up

Boris the Guardian of the Sandman Residence. Natasha keeps watch in the back of our house.

I just returned from a couple of days vacation visiting Newport Rhode Island.  We had a great time visiting the shops, historic mansions and sailing the harbor.

I wanted to make some rolls/buns that we could use for hamburgers for today's lunch and I didn't have time to refresh my starters so I used some instant yeast for the first time in a long time.

Since these were going to be used for hamburger buns I wanted to make sure to use enough fat in the recipe to make sure they were nice and soft.  I also wanted to try using some polenta in this recipe after reading about several other bakers trying it with great results.  I decided to also use potatoes to give it some extra softness and for extra flavor I left them nice and chunky with the skin on.

I used an overnight retardation of the dough to build extra flavor as well.  The end result was one of the best rolls I have made to date.  They were nice and soft and moist inside and out and tasted good enough to eat by themselves.  I am sure the polenta, potato combo along with the heavy cream I used contributed to the nice soft and moist crumb and crust.  Next time I will try these with Wild Yeast Water instead to see how that impacts the crumb

.

Ingredients

550 grams Bread Flour (King Arthur Flour)

100 grams Whole Spelt Flour (Bob's Red Mill)

150 grams Whole Egg (3 large eggs slightly beaten)

1 Egg Beaten with Water for the Egg Wash

180 grams Polenta (cooked, and cooled)

160 grams Mashed Potatoes with Skins (I boiled a few potatoes and saved the water for the dough)

50 grams Extra Virgin Olive Oil

127 grams Potato Water at 85 - 90 degrees F.

142 grams Heavy Cream at 85 - 90 degrees F.

7 grams Instant Yeast

14 grams Seas Salt or Table Salt

40 grams Honey

Directions

Polenta

Prepare the polenta according to your recipe.  I followed the simple directions on the package and only made half the recipe which still was 4 times the amount I needed.  I added some grated Parmigiano Reggiano and butter at the end and also threw in some toasted dried onions for extra flavor.  Left overs will be grilled later this weekend with some olive oil and more cheese on top.

Final Dough

Mix flours with yeast to combine.  Next add remainder of the ingredients keeping about 30 grams of water back.  Mix on low-speed or by hand for 1 minute and let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes to absorb the flour.

Add the balance of the water if needed and mix for another 4 minutes.  The dough should come together and be scraping the side of the mixing bowl and be nice and fairly smooth but still tacky.

Remove the dough to your work surface and knead by hand for 1 minute.  Do about 3-4 stretch and folds and put in a well oiled bowl or container with a cover.  Put it in your refrigerator immediately.

You can keep it in your refrigerator for about 24 to 36 hours.  I ended up baking it in the morning so it was only in my refrigerator for around 14 -15 hours.   The dough should double while in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake the rolls or bread, take it out of the refrigerator and immediately weigh out your pieces or loaves and shape as desired.  I made simple round rolls and let them rise for 1 hour on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

After 45 minutes turn your oven up to 350 degrees F. and prepare your rolls as desired.  I beat 1 whole egg mixed with a little water and put an egg wash on each roll.  I also added some toasted onions to some and some dried cheese mix on some as well.  At the 1 hour or so mark pop them in the oven with steam and turn once after about 15 minutes.  These should take about 25 minutes to cook thoroughly.

Let them cool on wire rack for at least half an hour before digging in if you can wait that long.

Please feel free to visit my other blog at www.mookielovesbread.wordpress.com for more recipes.

Below are some photos of my Summer Cottage at New Port :) as well as some other interesting sites.

The Breakers....owned originally by Cornelius Vanderbilt II

The Breakers

Animal Topiary Gardens

More Animal Topiary Gardens

Jacky Kennedy's Childhood Summer House

Playhouse for Jacky Kennedy when Child. Note: I think it is bigger than my current house!

Oldest Tavern in USA originally built in 1642.

Now that I have taken the dive bait and started baking with my Yeast Water Starter, it was time to try something a little more complicated.  Following the lead of my friend DA Brownman, I decided to try a combo yeast water levain and AP sourdough levain.  To make it interesting I made the yeast water levain using 100% durum flour in a 2 build process and combined this with my existing refreshed AP sourdough starter.

For the final dough I mixed in some Oat flour and some Wheat Germ for nuttiness along with a majority of Durum flour, some mashed potatoes with the skins and some walnut oil.

I have to say that this ended up being a great tasting bread with a wonderful crust and crumb.  I'm going to grill some for dinner tonight with some olive oil and grated cheese mixture which I anticipate will be mouth-watering.

The final bake had some excellent oven spring and like I said, the crust is nice and crispy with a perfect buttery and open crumb.

Yeast Water Starter Build 1

50 grams Durum Flour (KAF)

50 grams Yeast Water Starter

Mix the flour and Yeast Water in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 4 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.

Build 2

Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours.

100 grams Durum Flour

50 grams Yeast Water

Main Dough Ingredients

125 grams Refreshed AP Starter (65% hydration)

250 grams Durum Yeast Water Starter (all of starter from above)

40 grams Roasted Wheat Germ

50 grams Oat Flour

455 grams Durum Flour

161 grams Mashed Potatoes (I like to mash them with the skins on and used red potatoes)

8 grams Walnut Oil

18 grams Salt (Sea Salt or Table Salt)

400 grams Water (80 to 90 degrees F.)

Procedure

Mix the starters with the water and stir to break it up.  Next mix in the flours into the starter mixture and mix for 2 minutes with your mixer or by hand.    Let the dough autolyse for 30 minutes to an hour in your bowl covered with a cloth or plastic wrap.  Next add in the salt, mashed potatoes and oil and mix on speed #2 for 4 minutes or by hand.  The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.  Feel free to do some additional S & F's if you feel it is necessary.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.  It should take around 20 - 30 minutes to bake  until both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an hour or so before eating as desired.

.

I've made similar bread with cheese and potatoes before, but this time I added  some Durum Semolina flour to the starter and I smoked a sweet Vidalia onion and some baby red potatoes as well.

I like to work with fairly high hydration doughs and this was no exception coming in at 75% hydration.

The resulting bread was an irresistible bread good enough to eat by itself.  I believe the corresponding photos speak for themselves.  If you like a nice moist bread oozing with a slightly spicy cheese and smoked onions then I highly recommend you give this one a try!

Starter

142 gms Bread Flour (KAF)

85 gms Durum Semolina (KAF)

71 gms Seed Starter (65% White Starter recently refreshed)

151.5 gms Water (90 degrees F.)

Final Dough Ingredients

425 gms Starter from above (Should be all of the starter)

113 gms Whole Wheat (I use King Arthur Flour)

226 gms Bread Flour from KAF

58 gms Organic Cracked Wheat

152 gms roasted or barbecued  Potatoes (I smashed them up and left the skin on for some added flavor)

80 gms Chipolte Cheddar Cheese (I cut the cheese into small cubes)

80 gms Smoked Sweet Style Onions (I smoked them on my barbecue, but feel free to roast them with some olive oil in a pan or your oven)

425 gms Luke warm water, 90 degrees Fahrenheit

18 gms Sea Salt

Directions

The night before, mix the starter ingredients together in a small bowl and let sit loosely covered for 9-10 hours at room temperature.  The starter should be nice and bubbly and should have at least doubled in volume.  Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to use for up to 2 days or use right away.

When ready for the main event, take the starter out of the refrigerator and let it rest for an hour to come up to room temperature.  In the bowl of your mixer break the starter up into 6-10 pieces and add the water.  Mix on low for a minute or less to break up the starter.  You may want to use your hand to make sure it is nice and foamy.  Next add the cracked wheat and then all of the flours.  Mix on low for 2 minutes and then let the dough rest for 15 to 25 minutes covered.

After the autolyse add the potatoes and salt mix on speed number 2 for 3 minutes.  Now add the onions which should be chopped up into small pieces and mix for 1 minute more until they are incorporated into the dough.

Remove dough to your lightly floured work surface and do about 10 stretch and folds with a dough scraper or your hands but keep them oiled or wet.  Form the dough into a ball and let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes.

Do a stretch and fold and form into a ball again and cover with a clean moist cloth or oiled plastic wrap.  Let it rest for another 10 - 15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  The dough should start to develop some gluten at this point.  Let it rest covered again.

Now flatten the dough out into a rough rectangle and add the cheese and form the dough into a ball.   Cover the dough ball again and let it rest.  After another 10 minutes do another stretch and fold and put into a lightly oiled bowl that has enough room so the dough can double overnight.

Let the dough sit at room temperature for 2 hours and then put in your refrigerator  for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.

When ready to bake the bread, take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours.  Now shape the dough as desired on a floured work surface being careful not to handle the dough too roughly so you don't de-gas it.

Place it in your bowl, banneton or shape into baguettes

.

Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours covered with oiled plastic wrap or a wet cloth.

Pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 500 degrees F.

Slash loaves as desired and place empty pan in bottom shelf of oven.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water into pan and place loaves into oven.

Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until bread is golden brown and internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.  Leave the loaves in your oven with the door cracked for 5 minutes longer with the oven off.  After 5

minutes remove them from the oven and place on  your cooling rack.  Try to resist the temptation to cut into the bread until they have cooled sufficiently.

my entry for bbd #7 hosted this time by Cascabel of Chili und Ciabatta and initiated by Zorra. Cascabel proposed a great theme: flatbreads.

Ingredients

2 cups (275 g) (Yukon Gold) potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tbsp (18 g) kosher salt

2 tbsp (15 g) yellow cornmeal (whole grain, stone ground)

1 cup (102 g) dark rye flour

3 cups (400 g) bread flour (King Arthur brand) or as needed

1/2 tbsp (6 g) sugar

1 tsp (4 g) active dry yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water

2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter

Topping

1 onion, sliced paper-thin

1-2 tbsp (15-30 g) butter

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Strain and reserve cooking water. Mash the potatoes and place them in the bowl of a stand mixer. Measure 1-1/2 cups of the potato water (add extra water if necessary to have 1-1/2 cups) place in a saucepan and mix with the salt and cornmeal. Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and add the butter, stirring until it is melted. Pour the mixture on the mashed potatoes and mix briefly. Let cool.

Once the potato mixture is cold, add the flours and then the yeast dissolved in 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water. Knead until the dough develops, about 7 minutes at low speed. The dough will be tacky, if too sticky and wet you may need to add a little more bread flour. Don’t add too much, the dough should be tacky because of the rye and potatoes.

Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let it rise—preferably overnight in a cool place. The refrigerator might be fine, but a room with a temperature of 50°F (10°C ), such as a basement, is best.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C), place a rack in the middle slot.

Once the dough is fermented, take it out of the bowl and delicately, without kneading it, stretch it and flatten it with the palms of your hands to form a thin rectangle. Place it in a buttered jellyroll pan (11 x 16 x 0.5-inch—28 x 40.5 x 1.27 cm), spread on the surface the onion slices and dot with butter here and there. (click on picture to enlarge).

Immediately bake the bread for about 20-25 minutes. (click on picture to enlarge)

Notes: it is important that the potatoes are mashed while still hot and mixed with the flours when cold. Warm potatoes make the dough gooey and tend to absorb lots of flour, ruining the final result.

Mashing the potatoes with a fork so that small pieces remain whole is better than using a potato ricer—the potato bits are tasty to find in the finished bread.

From the original recipe by Florence Kreisler Greenbaum

In: “The International Jewish Cook Book: 1600 Recipes According To The Jewish Dietary Laws With The Rules For Kashering: The Favorite Recipes Of America, Austria, Germany, Russia, …”,1919—USA

I wanted to make dill bread so used Floyd’s wonderful recipe for Potato Rosemary Rolls yesterday but replaced the rosemary and sage for a huge pile of fresh baby dill.  Then I added another huge pile of freshly ground black Tellicherry pepper.  We really like things spicy but I was afraid the amount of pepper I used would overpower the dill.  Not having made dill bread before (Tingull's looks so good) I also wanted to try using fresh dill to get a feel for the amount desired.  I ended up using 2 1/2 teaspoons of freshly ground pepper and roughly 4 packed tablespoons of chopped fresh baby dill.  The flavor was outstanding.  My husband loved them!

I really love the way these taste not only because of the potato and potato water, which also helps them keep longer, but just the richness of the dough and texture when you bite into it.  It has a kind of chewiness to the crust but still moist and the crumb is great for juicy hamburgers.  We did have grilled ground sirloin burgers with fresh chopped garlic mixed into the meat and grilled sliced Vidalia onions.  It made a fabulous hamburger. 

Besides adding quite a bit of extra pepper and substituting fresh dill instead of rosemary and sage I didn't make any other change to Floyd's recipe.  I did brush the top of the buns with unsalted butter when they were hot from the oven. 

Inspired by Floyd's, Potato Rosemary Rolls:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/potatorosemaryrolls

And Tingull's, Country Dill Bread:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3298/country-dill