SpudBuns (Sourdough Potato Rolls)
I wanted to make a sandwich roll that had some substance both for chew and to hold up under moist sandwich ingredients, but something tender enough to be compressible. I’d been meaning to try a bread with some potatoes in it, as I’d heard that potatoes add some tenderness to the crumb (and every crumb needs a little tenderness).
I looked in several baking books and all over TFL. I settled on the Sourdough Potato Bread that Prairie19 posted about back in 2007 (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3886/sourdough-potato-bread [1]), which was described as a sourdough version of Hamelman’s Roasted Potato Bread.
I mostly followed Prairie19’s formula, except I didn’t have the extra night to retard the dough. And instead of bread flour, I used Central Milling’s Organic Artisan Baker’s Craft flour, along with some fine ground organic whole wheat flour from my market’s bulk bins.
I found the formula very straightforward. The dough was easy to work with. Somewhat loose, but trainable with appropriate discipline. Since these rolls were made to surround Salmon Teriyaki, I sprinkled them with sesame seeds when they were shaped, since every one knows that sesames are Salmon Teriyaki’s favorite seeds.
The rolls came out very nicely. The crumb and crust are tenderer than lean sourdough bread, but by no means wonderbread soft. I was hoping for a slightly softer roll. Maybe I’ll try this formula but with a bit of milk in place of some of the water. The potato flavor is scarcely noticeable. The flavor is nice, a bit sour, but unremarkable (ok, I’ve been eating great miche, so what can you expect?).
Though the rolls were not perfect, the Salmon Teriyaki was pretty close. And the sandwiches (with garlic-lemon sauce and cukes) went down good with a nice pale ale.
This is a very nice sourdough roll. I’d enjoy a full sized loaf, too.
The formula is on the page linked above. I used the same quantities for 6 rolls.
Enjoy!
Glenn