Potato bread

I was asked to cater a private celebration lunch and the star of the menu was to be a whole suckling pig.
When you have such a statement main course, I think you need to hang back on the accompaniments and keep things simple but they do also have an important role to play, the most important of which is to mop up all the lovely piggy juices.

 I wanted something slightly more special than potatoes or bread, so I combined the two and made potato bread. There are quite a few recipes online but in the end I devised one myself and I was really pleased with the results. It went down really well with the lunchers, too.


Ingredients
You will need 3-400g of cold mashed potato - make extra next time you're cooking, or make it ahead of time. Don't add seasoning or butter to the potato, just mash and set aside.
 
1tsp dried active yeast (or 1 sachet quick yeast or 15g fresh)
half tsp sugar
450g strong white bread flour
12g salt
1tbsp vegetable oil
300-350ml warm water

In a small glass / ramekin, cream the dried active or fresh yeast with the sugar and a little water. Set aside until it starts to foam. If you're using quick yeast then just add it straight in to the flour and skip this stage.
In a mixer bowl, weigh the flour and salt, then add the yeast mix, vegetable oil and most of the water (you may not need all of it).
 
Use the dough-hook attachment to knead the dough for 10-12 minutes, or do it by hand on a clean surface, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
 
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in volume - this can take an hour or more.
Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and use the dough hook to add the mashed potato and mix until well combined.
 
Then shape and place the dough on a baking sheet, cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to prove.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
 
When the dough is ready (press a fingertip in to the dough, if the indent remains it is ready to bake; if the dough springs back it is not yet ready), sprinkle with flour, slash the top and  bake in the middle of the oven for 45-60 minutes - turn the tray every 15 minutes to get even colour.
 
This bread is dense and moist and keeps well. If any survives the first outing, it would be great toasted and eaten with marmalade.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holiday kitchen confessional

So I am in the wilds of the northwest of Scotland this week, which I'm afraid is still a dire destination for a foodie ... yes there is lovely smoked salmon and the occasional kipper, but on the whole what is available to visitors (outside of chef-driven exclusive luxury lodges) is deep-fried stodge. The Scots are not unjustly famed for their oats porridge but they also invented the deep-fried Mars bar. From the window of our holiday cottage I can see Loch Sunart lazily lapping at the shore in the early evening sunshine - at this time of year it never truly gets dark and last thing before going to bed I look out on the silvery ribbon of water and hope to see an otter (I have done before, not yet on this trip). So we're back to basic self-catering holiday food: one-pot chicken casserole on our first night, which always pleases me in its deep chickenness. Plus, the first time David cooked it for me I knew I wanted to live with him forever. It's slow food but takes only minute...
Read more

Cheddar and green chilli cornbread

Image
Everyone’s cooking and baking again, and posting their stories online, which is lovely to see.  For professional chefs, this has been a stressful time, not being able to cook and feed people every day (it’s not just a day job, it’s basically a calling). With just two of us at home during lockdown, I’ve had to fight the urge to keep creating loads of dishes that we just can’t eat. The freezers are full, and there really is only so much one can eat in a day. (Trust me, we've tried.)  I’ve been making sourdough bread for decades with my starter called Elvis (and documenting the results endlessly on Insta) and once the strong flour issue was resolved I started baking bread for friends and neighbours, which has scratched the itch somewhat.     Then, seeing the lovely cheese and chilli cornbread recipe posted by Rosalind, the founder of Cookery School at Little Portland Street reminded me that I have a savoury muffin recipe which I use...
Read more

Smoked aubergine puree

Image
  THIS may look like a bowl of beige sludge but boy oh boy it packs a flavour punch.  There are lots of versions around, also known as Baba Ganoush, as it’s a staple of Mediterranean and North African cooking, and I have combined a few here but mostly the flavour bomb is the smoking of the aubergine.  Shortly before lockdown I invested in a smoker – it’s a small, table-top model (not much bigger than a backpack) that can be easily stored in the shed –  and I’ve been experimenting with cold-smoking, which is a low and slow way to infuse meat, fish and vegetables with that deep, smokiness that doesn’t come from a bottle like so many ‘smoked’ goods.  The critical different between hot and cold smoking, unsurprisingly, is temperature.  You can hot smoke foods in any closed-lid barbecue – it’s a guaranteed side benefit of  cooking over charcoal. With hot smoking you are cooking AND smoking at the same time – the smoke is gener...
Read more