Stay-cation Bread Celebration

Last week we were supposed to go away for the week but decided to skip the packing and driving and had a stay-cation instead.  It was glorious; having two parents to juggle two kids meant I had time to do some things I don’t usually have time or energy for. One of which was try a new bread recipe with a two-day process.  I often sit on my couch and flip through my bread books looking for inspiration and one particular recipe always catches my attention: potato bread with rosemary and roasted garlic. It sounded delicious, the potato part intrigued me and the picture in the cookbook enticed me.

The recipe starts with a biga the night before and the potato, rosemary and garlic is added the next day.  The smell of the garlic and rosemary filled the house as it cooked and the result was a gorgeous golden loaf with a super soft crumb on the inside.  

It was a lot more work than some of the bread recipes I usually use but it was a hit.  The recipe make two loaves and so we brought the prettiest one to our friends house for thanksgiving dinner as there really is nothing better than sharing your baking creations.

Potato Rosemary Bread from Peter Reinhart's Bread Bakers Apprentice 

Biga

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp instant yeast

3/4 -1 cup of water

Dough

3 cups plus 2 tbsp bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 cup mashed potato

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

3/4 - 1 cup warm water

4 tbsp coarsely chopped roasted garlic

Semolina flour for dusting

olive oil for brushing on top

The day before you want to make the bread make the Biga. 

 Stir together the flour and yeast in a large bowl.

Add 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of water, stirring  until everything comes together and makes a corse ball, adding more water or flour to make a dough that is neither too sticky or too stiff.

Knead for 4-6 minutes or until dough is soft and pliable.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around so the dough is coated in oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 2-4 hours at room temperature or until it is nearly doubled.

Remove dough and lightly knead to remove some of the air pockets and return it to the bowl.  Cover and refrigerate over night.

The next day take the biga out of the fridge an hour before you plan to make the dough.  Cut it into ten small pieces, cover with a towel and let sit for an hour to take the chill off.

stir together the flour, salt, black pepper, and yeast into a large bowl or in your stand mixer. Add biga pieces, mashed potato, oil, rosemary and 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp water.  Stir or mix with paddle attachment for one minute, until the ingredients form a ball

Knead dough or use dough hook attachment in mixer until dough is soft and supple, 6-10 minutes. 

Flatten the dough and spread the roasted garlic over the top. gather dough into a ball and knead garlic into dough for 1 minute. Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl and roll it around to coat dough with oil. 

Cover and let rise 2 hours at room temperature.

remove dough from bowl and divide into two equal bowl.  Shape each into a large round loaf (this is an important step, if you need guidance in shaping just youtube "shaping bread boule"). 

Line a baking sheet with parchment and dust lightly with semolina flour.  Place both loaves on the baking sheet, making sure they are far apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap.  Let proof for 1-2 hours at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400 F with oven rack in the middle position.  Remove plastic wrap from dough and lightly brush loaves with olive oil. Place pan in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes.  The loaves should be a golden brown all around and the when you tap the bottom they should sound hollow. 

Allow to cool for 1 hour (if you can) before digging in!