Mr. Potato Bread from "Bourke Street Bakery"
Another bread from the book "Bourke Street Bakery", using the same white sourdough dough as this hazelnut current bread. The potatoes were roasted until barely soft and chopped to big chunks, so that they don't get lost in the dough. I have had too many potato chunks disappearing into the bread, I might have over-compensated and chopped them "too big", however they are delicious though.
The book has quite a few breads using the same basic dough, with different add-ins. The flow is very easy: 2 hours of bulk rise, shape and into the fridge overnight, take out and rise again next morning, then bake. Last time I let it warm up for almost 2 hours, this time it was 1.5 hours, judging from the scoring mark and crumb, I think 1.5 hours is better in my case. Other than roasted potato, there's also fresh rosemary to complement the flavor. Original recipe also used a little soy flour and nigella seeds, I have neither, so I used equal amount of buckwheat flour and poppy seeds, a nice subtle effect.
I am still trying to get up enough courage to try the pie and tarts formulas from this book. It's 100F+ here in Dallas, not the best time to make pastry dough, but cool weather is 4 months away, sigh...
Comments
I know I need to reply to your email - life got in the way big time!
Loved this potato bread, quite unusual with the potato chunks in the dough - I like the idea
(my tutor asked me if you are from the North of China, because of one expression you used in your croissant recipe.... are you?
I am from Shanghai, and I am a Shanghai girl through and through (your tutor can tell you the nuance of that statement :P). I know what she means though, over the years, I have adapted a lot of slangs from other areas of China through reading and talkign to my friends.
Let me see if I can try something.... :-)
上海！ 对不起， 我觉得你已经告诉我， 可是我忘了。。。
You are good! Now if you say:
我觉得你已经告诉过我
It would be more natural, but what you typed was great to start with
I see... indeed, much more beautiful. I knew I had taken some liberties with your beautiful language, but wanted to try anyway ;-)
I was super impressed by the Chinese sentences you "said". I learned to speak English when I moved to Canada after high school, so I know how it's different to know a language and "KNOW" a language. Your grasp of Chinese is great, it just takes a lot of speaking and listening for it to become intuitive.
Sally, you lost me just about here: 上海 ...;)
Very impressive :)
And txfarmer, the bread looks delicious! I love roasted potatoes and herbs in bread.
Your crafstmanship, care and attention to details really show up in all your bakes.
I really enjoy looking at and reading about your creations.
Don
Thank you Don for such kind words. I admire your innovation and techniques, constantly learn from you.
txfarmer, I always enjoy not only your adventures in baking but the pictures of the loaves. Beautifully shaped and scored. And you've certainly got your carbs covered between the bread and potatoes!
Larry
That's me. I love carbs to start with, ever since I started marathon training/running years ago, it's gotten even "worse"!:P
Having met Txfarmer in person, I can testify she is in top shape - if you can believe it, BEFORE going to the class with Peter Reinhart, she had gone for a 9 or 10 mile run...
beyond impressive! She needs those carbs for sure! ;-)
Everything about your boule is gorgeous and another plus is you can run off those extra carbs from your gorgeous baking. My husband is a cyclist and I know those carbs are important. What a plus to be able to consume all your delicious and beautiful home baked ones.
Sylvia
I am cycling and swimming a bit too since I want to do some short tri races in the summer time - when it's too hot to run races. I guess I am an endurance sports junkie. :P All the cyclists I know are lean fast machines that burn loads of carbs, I see your breads are important fueling sources!
I think your crust is gorgeous!
SusanFNP has a roasted potato bread on her Wild Yeast Blog. She dices the potatoes roasts them with garlic to crispness before mixing them in the dough. That also sounds good.
My step-mother was born in this country but was raised by her grandparents in Shanghai and was a Japanese POW during WW II. She has an amazing ability to find people from Shanghai everywhere. I gather the Shanghai dialect has survived the best efforts of the central government to make everyone in the PRC speak Mandarin.
David
Shanghai dialect is very different from Mandarin, which is based on Beijin dialect. I think it's a good and necessary idea to standardize language, otherwise people from different regions really can't understand each other, very inconvenient. Right now, all people in China can at least understand Mandarin, most of them can speak it, but can also speak local dialects fluently. Shanghai is the most westernized city in China, with a long history of connections to Europe and North Amreica, so Shanghai immigrants are indeed everywhere!
roasted with garlic. A quick step would be to use the already diced frozen hashbrowns.
I love making a 'non-company' potato salad that way.
anna
I can only imagine this being far better than the potato bread jr I blogged about a while back. I think your potato chunks are an excellent cut, they provide great texture and a wonderful look to the loaf!
Your crust is superb too : )
Your potato bread jr looked so delicious, which is why I picked this one to bake.
Well done and thanks for sharing this gorgeous bread.
Michael
Thanks for the kind words! :)
Your bread looks perfect txfarmer.
Eric
Thank you Eric!
language when you also think in it.
beautiful boule. Wonderful !
anna