Roasted Potato Bread

According to Jeffrey Hamelman in his book Bread, adding potatoes to bread was a result of serious grain shortages near the end of the eighteenth century. Those in power, including the governments, were concerned about unrest, so they attempted to devise ways to add other ingredients to bread to make up for the short supply of grains. While many of the attempted ingredients didn't work, potatoes definitely did.

This roasted potato bread has a a wonderful potato flavor. The potatoes in the loaves are baked, not boiled, intensifying the potato flavor. In addition, the skins are also mashed and added to the dough. Potatoes add a lot of moisture to bread, and help keep the bread fresh longer. Trust me, you will love this bread.

This bread was the October Bread of the Month for the Facebook Artisan Bread Bakers Group, and was introduced to the group by my friend David of Hearth Baked Tunes.

Roasted Potato Bread

Ingredients

Pate Fermentee

9.6 ounces bread flour

6.2 ounces water

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp instant yeast

Final Dough

17.6 ounces bread flour

4.8 ounces rye flour

13.3 ounces water

1 T salt

1 1/4 tsp instant yeast

8 ounces baked Yukon Gold potatoes (baked whole, not cut up or peeled)

all of the pate fermentee

Instructions

1. The day before baking the bread, mix the pate fermentee in a medium bowl until just smooth. Cover and allow to sit for 16 hours. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low for about three minutes. Next, add the pate fermentee in chunks while the dough is mixing.  Change the speed of the mixer to the next highest speed and mix for about 4 minutes. 
3. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover, and let it rise until doubled, about 90 minutes, with one stretch-and-fold half way through. 
4. Divide the dough into two pieces and form it into two boules or batards, and let rise for about 75 minutes. 
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and prepare it for steam. 
6. Score the loaves and bake them for 40 minutes. If the loaves get too brown, tent with foil. 
7. Cool completely on a rack before slicing.