Saturday 16 August 2014

Making a potato bread

The name potato bread has actually little implication on what the bread is like.

Irish potato bread, also called potato farl, is a bread with mashed potato, milk, and butter kneaded with plain flour and baking powder.  It seems more like a pancake than a bread. 

Polish potato bread also contains mashed potato, together with egg, butter and sugar mixed with flour and yeast.  

Leftover mashed potatoes, even those with additional ingredients, have been used for making various forms of potato bread.

The potato bread I experimented recently is based on the recipe of Dick and James Strawbridge in their book on bread-making.   

The ingredients of this bread are as below:
  • 500 g strong white flour
  • 350 g grated potatoes
  • 250 ml tepid water
  • 10g dried yeast
  • small amount of olive oil and salt
The flour mixture was kneaded for about 7 minutes and then left to rise for 2 hours.

It was then knocked back, cut into half, and shaped into a greased tin foil casserole dish.  Covered and allowed to prove for one hour. Then it was baked at 200C for 45 minutes.


So here is the potato bread for the week! 

It seems to go better with olive oil and vinegar than peanut butter. The grated potatoes add to the texture in addition to that of the chewy strong flour.  Perhaps a little more salt and some herbs, such as dill as suggested by the original recipe, should enhance the taste.  

Recipe from: Dick and James Strawbridge.  Breads.  Published in the Great Britain in 2013. 

No comments: