The Humble Potato and How it Came to be Bread

Living in Idaho, I have become used to strangers who, upon discovering I live in Idaho, have to utter some cliche that in some way involves potatoes. Like "oh, the potato state' or "I bet you love potatoes" or something equally as inane. I used to try to counter with some remark about how Maine has better potatoes but now, I just don't bother. My son spent his first year at Cornell with nicknames that were a variation on potatoes ("Spud" was my favorite) before he just became known as "Idaho" to his track team.

So potatoes do play a big part in my life, in one fashion or another. This is the first time, however, that I've actually used them in bread. I've baked my fair share of various kinds of loaves, but never have I made potato bread. I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and it seemed like a pretty straightforward white bread recipe that would yield a nice dense (but not too heavy) loaf that would be perfect with soups and stews and other fall weather recipes. 

And it all starts with a humble Russett potato.

Ingredients

1 medium-size russet potato (about 8 oz.), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 (1/4-oz.) envelopes active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105° to 115°

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons table salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons melted butter, divided

Preparation

1. Bring potato and water to cover to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat; boil 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup liquid, and cool potato 15 minutes. Press potato through a potato ricer or food mill, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

Of course I own a potato ricer. Who doesn't?

2. Stir together yeast, 1 cup warm water, 2 tsp. sugar, and reserved cooking liquid in bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in eggs, next 3 ingredients, potato, 3 cups flour, and remaining sugar. Beat at medium speed, using paddle attachment, until smooth. Gradually beat in remaining 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour until a soft dough forms.

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 4 to 6 minutes), sprinkling with flour as needed. Place dough in a lightly greased large bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°), about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

4. Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide in half.

5. Roll each dough half into an 18- x 9-inch rectangle. Starting at 1 short end, roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, pressing to seal edges as you roll. Pinch ends of dough, and tuck ends under. Place each roll, seam side down, in a lightly greased 9- x 5-inch loaf pan. Brush tops with 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°), 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

6. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown. Remove from pans to a wire rack, and brush with remaining melted butter. Cool completely.

This bread was a huge hit with the family. I kept one loaf out to eat and then froze the other one. My husband commented I should have left them both out, as it took just a day for us to work our way through the one loaf. It was perfect with my tomato and tortellini soup (recipe to follow next week) and was also great toasted for breakfast with butter and some of my homemade strawberry jam. 

That's right folks - I do LOVE potatoes.