 |
| Sliced |
 |
| Sliced 2 |
 |
| 15 oz spud |
 |
| Before the slice |
 |
| Oh, the agony! |
 |
| 11 oz spud |
 |
| Mashed and water |
 |
| Savories! |
 |
| Yes – orange peel! |
 |
| Pre-bake |
 |
| Cooling |
 |
| Tasting |
 |
| Slicing |
 |
| Criticising |
Yep, folks, it’s time for the monthly Daring Bakers challenge! For this month we were supposed to make potato bread. We were to start out with a smallish amount of potato if we’re not experienced at making potato bread; thanks for that challenge, by the way Tanna, which assured that I would take the bait and cram as many potatoes into the bread as possible. 😉
All kidding aside, it would have been wise for me to start out with the 8 oz of potato recommended, but I tried for the full 16. The first time ’round, I boiled the potatoes, let them sit … and they turned kinda funky (technical term: rotten and stringy, because I forgot them over night) Alas, the cosmos (and organic gardening) were truly against me, as the truly mighty spud I selected for the next attempt turned out to have a dark heart! After trimming and pruning I ended up with around 10 oz of potato, which I duly boiled & saved the water from. The instructions were (thankfully) not so strict this time around, so I felt that I was within regulations by including some olives, onion, rosemary, and orange peel in the loaves (she said they had to be savory).
This was the first time ’round for our pizza stone over here in the UK, despite having installed it into the oven quite some time ago. I just … well, have been scared for it, considering the generally wimpy nature of the oven. So, onto the stone they went, 4 loaves … which didn’t really want to all fit onto the stone, and which didn’t have enough elbowroom nor enough space to just hang over the edges a little. So, with much squeezing, they all shared the stone, and turned out … well, tasty, but not so perfect.
In the future, I’ll be doing a smaller batch lying to you, saying I’ll do a smaller batch, when I’ll be just wishing that I had, complaining about the batch size, and making excuses. Hrumph. Yes. Well. Perhaps, though, I’ll try to see if there’s a better position for the stone in the oven, as the bottoms of the loaves didn’t get done as darkly as I thought they should have, while the top-crust formed quite a few bubbles just beneath the crust, which says to me that the heat was coming from the top rather than from beneath, as it should with a stone. So, I figure that the stone didn’t do its job. Maybe it’s something to do with it being a convection oven? Anybody have any ideas?
The bread was quite tasty, tender, and generally wonderful. The rise was a bit abysmally slow, and I attribute that to the fact that I forgot to use something other than tap water in which to boil the potatoes. So, the poor wee yeasts were struggling for life with chlorine, not to mention that they’re this strange yeast we find over here, and that I’m not used to. I’ve one more can of the stuff, and then I’m switching back to my vacuum-sealed brick of yeast brought along from the US, which is quite familiar to me, if rather flavorless.
As far as what happened to these loaves, one of them went over to Holler, and the others … vanished mysteriously. Quite rapidly. Probably too rapidly. This type of thing is why we used to give bread away to our neighbors, but since we’re in the UK now, we’ll probably not have anybody to share with for another decade or so. 😉
So, enjoy the other versions, and thanks for listening to me ramble on about bread once again! Can you tell that we like it, over here?
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Your post cracked me up! Great job on your bread even though there were a few technical difficulties with the pizza stone and that pesky yeast!
Oh my!!! I opened up at least two potatoes that looked like your “uh-oh” potato!! I thought I was truly jinxed that day. My “rolls” turned out identical to yours!
Great bread and it looks like you had as much fun as I did with this months challenge 🙂
Lewis
TableBread
I think tasty but not so perfect is just right! Who needs perfect?! 😉
Great job!! And fab post!
That’s a very funny post! Sorry about the potatoes … I’ve had that happen a few times where the heart of the potato is rotted but such are the joys of the garden! Still, congratulations on completing the bread!
What a hilarious post!
🙂
I didn’t realize chlorinated tap could affect yeast – thanks for the tip!
Julius from Occasional Baker
You are so funny! Bet you do make a huge batch next time and then moan a bit about no room on the stone. Have not used a pizza stone in a convection oven…that may be the problem. The yeast differences may have something to do with it too, but it sounds like the bread was eaten and enjoyed. Good job!
I use a convection oven and a garden center bought unglazed terra cotta plate (yeah yeah I’m cheap I know…::hangs head in shame and nods::) but have no problem in undercooked bottoms (no I won’t go there..).
Perhaps it was a bit crowded in there to get the heat up and around your loaves?
Still, great job!
An excellent job with your bread. Taste is all that matters…just remember that.
I hate the dried yeast. If you want fresh you can get it from Delizique – just ‘phone to make sure they have some, theyll usually order it in for you – it is a 5 minute walf from Byres Road,
India
You did a great job! Sorry about your set backs and the potato with the icky center. I used beets…it took nearly forever for them to boil until tender. Even then they didn’t mash, I had to use my food processor to make the bread.
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
You did a great job in spite of all the technical difficulties. I almost had an attack when I sae my husband chugging down the mineral water I keep for breads….Not the day to get healthy on me!! The rolls look very appetizing!
I think that it would be difficult to learn to bake in a different country – the smallest things make big differences!! But I’m still glad you enjoyed the bread!
Funny post! Great job on your challenge and I’m glad it worked out in the end.
Christina, She Runs, She Eats
I halved the recipe (only made it today!), and really liked the result. As far as neighbours go – that’s why I enjoyed living in a student halls of residence – always a ready supply of hungry fellow students to eat anything you’re cooking:)
Moving is hard enough, but for cooks it can be a challenge to learn how to work with ingredients that are subtly different. I don’t blame you for going back to your trusted yeast. I used to have family members mail yeast to me when I lived overseas.
And in spite of your challenges, your bread turned out well. Congrats!
Your post is hilarious. I think your breads look wonderful and you did well despite the various obstacles. Great work!!
-jen at use real butter
I hate it when a perfectly good looking veggy has a bad middle! Still at least you didn’t use it for a baked potato.
Bread looks lovely and I liked the sound of your additions.
I’m trying to decide if I divide the recipe in half next time so I don’t have too much Gluten free bread or just let the rest of the family eat it as they seemed quite happy to with the last batch.
You done good, even though the potatoes fought you all the way. Hope next challenge will be… well, frankly, even harder. It’s kind of fun to read your posts after you have to sweat a bit. 😀
Well done. Your’s is the first that I’ve seen with organge peel added. I would love to try that.
I think your breads look great, especially thinly sliced (my preference, too). I hope it’s really not so long before you have neighbors who you can break bread with! And I hope you figure out the mystery of your pizza stone soon. =)
This looks great. In Ireland I was brought up on Potato Cakes as a treat on a Sunday afternoon for tea. What we do is get any left over mashed potatoes cold, add a whisked egg and bind and enough flour so that you can roll out like scone base. Cut to any shape and fry until golden brown on both side. Serve with butter, yummy. Don’t use too much oil in the pan and my dad used to chop up a scallion and pop that into the mixture also.
I think your bread is gorgeous, and I LOVE the addition of orange peel. Next time I attempt this one, I’m going to try the pizza stone approach.