Potato Bread

Inspired by a recipe from The Fresh Loaf, I made some delicious potato bread for S. I used more potato and a bit more flour and no bacon or herbs but I was reading the site because I was looking for potato bread ideas.

I'll try to remember how much of what. Experiment with it, that's what I do. I'll never be a bread baker who measures and makes sponges and loaves that take a week to make because I'm feeding a starter. That's all well and good but it just isn't me. The bread I make is delicious, we love it. Real ingredients made by hand at home. That's good enough for us.

Here is what I used:

about 3/4 cup mashed potatoes
4 to 4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/4 tsp teaspoons yeast (1 packet)
2 teaspoon salt

Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Chances are it's plenty of moisture once you mix this with the potatoes and sour cream. But it's good to have the extra warm water on hand. While the yeast is proofing, mix the mashed potatoes with the sour cream and salt. Once you know you have live yeast, add it, then about 3 1/2 cups of the flour and start mixing with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it all comes together. It will probably be pretty wet. If so, add more flour, a half cup at a time. Soon, you can begin kneading it. I knead dough right in the large bowl I use to mix my ingredients. Less mess. Continue to add a little flour at a time as you knead until it all comes together nicely and smoothly and gives a jump back when you press it. Rub a bit of olive oil on it and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. Once doubled, turn it out onto a board or the counter-top and press it into a rectangle, gently. Don't kill all that wonderful air in the dough. Begin rolling up the dough from one of the short ends, giving the seam a pinch with each roll. Then drop the rolled up dough into a greased/oiled/buttered/spray loaf pan. Let this rise well up over the rim of the pan. Makes a nice looking loaf that way.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. I bake the bread for about 15 minutes then turn it around and bake for about another 15. Our oven is hotter in the back so no matter if I bake it vertically or horizontally, one side will be darker if I don't turn it. To test for doneness, I check the internal temp and if it shoots to 200 right away, I'm good, bread comes out and goes straight to the cooling rack. If it needs more internal time but the top is the right color, I cover it with foil and bake a couple more minutes at a time until I get that temp.

Make some bread at home. Your family will love it. Leave that store stuff behind.