The Fresh Loaf

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Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Bread

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Bread

    I wanted to make some good soft and flavorful potato bread and this formula ended up as close to what I imagined as possible.

It's very similar to store bought potato bread but much, much better.  The ricotta cheese combined with the sweet potatoes and red potatoes really gave the crumb a nice soft and moist texture which is perfect for this type of bread.

The crumb was not terribly open, but that's okay, since who wants your sandwich fillings pouring out anyway :).

I tried Teresa Greenway's Stegosaurus scoring technique from Northwest Sourdough, which you can see here for one of the loaves and it came out pretty good but I realized I didn't follow her directions exactly so I have a partial Stegosaurus bread :).

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Formula

Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Loaf (weights)

Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Loaf (%)

Download the BreadStorm File Here.

DSC_0049

Levain Directions

Mix all the Levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, potatoes and water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), ricotta cheese and olive oil and mix on low for 6 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.  (If you have a proofer you can set it to 80 degrees and follow above steps but you should be finished in 1 hour to 1.5 hours).

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.   Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 550 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

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DSC_0062 (1)

 

Straight Version with no Levain (This is per request in comments).

Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Loaf Straight Bread (%)Mixed Potato Durum Ricotta Loaf Straight Bread (weights)

Comments

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Wow, what a gorgeous colour! And the crumb looks so soft and moist - great sandwich bread for sure. I wonder what it would look and taste like with yams instead of sweet potatoes? Mmmmm....

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Lazy Loafer!

This one did have a wonderful gold color from the Durum and potatoes.  I think Yams are pretty much the same so I'm sure it would  work fine.


Regards,

Ian

Ru007's picture
Ru007

I'm with LL, the color you got on those loaves is lovely!

The crumb is perfect for sandwiches, holey bread makes for very messy (and frustrating) sandwiches. 

Enjoy! 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Ru.  Appreciate your kind words and glad you liked the post.

I'm going to grill some slices up tonight to use for a hamburger with cheese and grilled onions.


Regards,

Ian

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

forte!  Plus a return to ricotta and potatoes too!  Just to much take in when out of town.  The crumb on this one looks spot on.  Well done and happy baking. 

Even though Lucy didn't come along, she would want to to say HI to her 7 East Coast Furry friends.  My daughter actually graduated from PA school with Honors and Special Awards ans we got to see her graduation in Galveston and we hosted the family and friends in a condo on Jamaica Beach with killer shrimp gumbo, Greek salad, shrimp Po Boys, Garlic pita bread and drinks all around several times,

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Congrats on the daughters graduation.  I'm sure you must have been very proud of her and sounds like you made quite the spread for family and friends!

The NY gang says hi to lovely Lucy and Happy Baking and eating!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

of several homemade breads and jam.  Too much celbrating going on for cooking:-) Thanks Ian for the congrats

Yippee's picture
Yippee

How do I know?  I made it!!!  Everyone in the family loves it!  I'll post the results when I get a chance. School starts tomorrow, very busy weekend.   Thanks for sharing!

Yippee

Isand66's picture
Isand66

So happy to hear you gave this a try and liked it.  Look forward to reading your post.

Regards,

Ian

alfanso's picture
alfanso

At least in the Northern Hemisphere...  That's what it seems like to me.  Maybe a really tasty combination with a thick soup for cold winter nights (although we don't see many cold winter nights in our latitude ~26 degrees North).

I've never baked with either potato or ricotta.  Is a tight crumb typical for these additions?  I love the look of the crumb as is on this one.

Just stay clear of Brontosaurus tracks, which make hippo tracks seem dainty by comparison...

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Not too hearty but certainly tasty and perfect for sandwiches and even great grilled with some garlic butter and grated cheese!

I wouldn't say that the tight crumb was due to the potatoes but I guess it could depend on how much you use and probably combined with the cheese it did tighten it up a bit.  It's not like this was a dry bread, if anything it was very moist.

I already have 2 dogs and 5 cats so what's one more dinosaur?

Happy Baking!

Ian

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Beautiful loaves even if they remind me more about eating like a dino than seeing one.  

The crust must taste fantastic!  I can see myself picking out the crumb middle and then savouring the crust for last.  :)

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Thanks Mini!

Always nice to hear from you.

I'm sure you would have enjoyed the crust for sure on this one.  I would think your current residence probably has some dino sightings :) and this one would go fine.

Regards,
Ian

MontBaybaker's picture
MontBaybaker

Can't wait to try this!  Homemade ricotta plus potatoes - yummy.  I don't currently have a levain going and won't start a new one until I can bake regularly (after arm & hand issues improve).  What would be the ratios for a pre-ferment to substitute?  I know the flavor will be different, but we'd like to otherwise try the recipe as written.  If my husband wants good bread he'll help. Thanks!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Hi MontBaybake,

Sorry for the delay in responding.  If you want to make this as a straight dough with no levain you can follow the formula I posted at the end of the original post.

You can also make a Biga  with the same amount of flour I used for the original Levain and make sure to add 34 grams of flour for the seed starter and 22 grams of water.

Let me know if you have any other questions and please let me know how it comes out.

Regards,

Ian