Potato Rosemary Bread

Lucky Peach Presents Power Vegetables: Turbocharged Recipes for Vegetables with Guts... what does that even mean? To begin with, Lucky Peach is a foodie magazine, brain-child of the one and only irreverent powerchef David Chang and powerhouse former restaurant critic Peter Meehan. After establishing the magazine, the label has gone on to publish subject-based cookbooks, like 101 Easy Asian Recipes, the Wurst of Lucky Peach, and now, Power Vegetables.  In the intro, Peter writes that this cookbook is supposed to be

"98% fun and 2% stupid. I wanted something [...] yelling WE ARE GOING TO EAT VEGETABLES AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE AWESOME" 

Cleverly, he also sets up some ground rules up-front: no frying, no subrecipes, no pasta recipes, no egg-on-it recipes, no grain bowls, fruits are vegetables, no meat but fish and dairy are ok. I love it when cookbook intros give these "rules of engagement" and the why behind them, so, okay, so far so good... Cool concept cookbook, how's the food?

This potato rosemary bread recipe that I picked isn't exactly what I expected to find in here, honestly - I wasn't thinking about bread in the context of vegetables. But, it is excellent and just as idiotproof as promised in the subheading text.

I halved the recipe because it was just Caleb and I. I made the starter the night before, then the next day baked the potato and mashed it, let the water and flour mix do their autolysing, mixed and kneaded the dough, then took off with Caleb to see the Accountant. That meant I left the dough alone for about 3 hours and wasn't around for either folding. I decided to test Peter's theory of idiotproof and simply folded my dough once home, started the oven pre-heating with my cast-iron dutch oven (thanks Grandma and mom) inside, then baked the bread for exactly 40 minutes. The bottom of the loaf was right on the line of burnt, but otherwise it was perfect. We enjoyed it with our healthier buffalo chicken dip (with leftover Thanksgiving turkey in place of the chicken...).

I did find that I needed to add a little extra water to get my dough to come together - about 1-2 tablespoons more. I also wound up with a little more potato flesh in my dough than the 8 oz called for, just because I hated to waste perfectly good baked potato. Garlic in bread is not my favorite addition. It can be okay, but I think it limits what you can eat the bread with and I love bread too much to limit my options for eating it.

After adding the olive oil, my dough was pretty sticky. I was a little concerned that maybe I'd messed it up with my addition of water to get the dough to form initially, but I hoped for the best and it turned out not to be a problem. So if you find yourself with sticky dough, don't freak out and don't add more flour.

The only thing I would do differently next time is make sure I mashed the potato better than I did. There were a couple larger chunks that didn't get mashed down more like my lazy self assumed they would while I kneaded the dough. They didn't harm the bread in any way, but their texture could be a little alarming within the bread.

Lucky Peach's potato rosemary bread had great subtle flavor from the rosemary and a pillowy soft interior from the potato. It stayed soft the day after baking - actually my right-on-the-line crust got softer too. The subheading promises that it will stay soft for up to 3 days. I wouldn't know since we consumed our little loaf within 24 hours of baking. The same thing has happened every time I've made it since.

Original source: Lucky Peach Presents Power Vegetables: Turbocharged Recipes for Vegetables with Guts.

Potato Rosemary Bread

It takes some planning ahead (not accounted for in the prep time) because of the 12-hour starter, but this potato rosemary bread is easy to make, doesn't require any babying, is full of flavor, and keeps well. Don't be put off by the lengthy instructions - half of the rise process is skippable. If you don't have bread flour, just use unbleached all-purpose (ideally from King Arthur (since their's has a high gluten content)).

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Course: Bread

Cuisine: Irish

Keyword: Easy bread, Lucky Peach

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Rising and cooling time: 8 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 9 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 8-inch loaves

Calories: 1155kcal

Ingredients

Starter

• ¼ cup bread flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• pinch fresh/instant yeast

Dough

• 2 medium/large russet potatoes about 1 lb
• 3 ½ cup bread flour plus some for dusting
• 1 cup+ 1 tablespoon water plus up to 2-4 tablespoons if necessary
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh yeast or 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus some for greasing
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• optional:2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

Instructions

Starter

• In a small bowl, stir together the flour, water, and yeast until they form a smooth dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warmish spot for 12 hours.

Dough

• Heat the oven to 350 F. Prick each potato multiple times with the tines of a fork, wrap in aluminum foil, then bake about 1 hour, until tender. Cool on a rack until they are cool enough to handle, then halve each potato, scoop out the flesh, and mash it with a fork until you have small, coarse bits. You should have just under 500g (1 lb) of potato flesh.
• While the potatoes are baking, start the dough. Mix the flour and 1 cup + 1 tablespoon water together in a large bowl to achieve a dry, shaggy dough. If your dough forms small pieces and won't come together, add a little more water, ½ tablespoon at a time, until cohesive. Let stand 15 minutes to allow autolysis.
• Add the starter, salt, and yeast to the dough. Mix at low speed (or by hand) until combined, about 5 minutes with a dough hook. Increase the speed to medium, continue kneading until the dough becomes supple and smooth, another 8-10 minutes. (If you are kneading by hand, wet your hands if the dough becomes too stiff to work.)
• Use the windowpane test to check whether the dough is ready: pull off a 1-inch ball of dough and try stretching it between your index finger and thumb until it's thin enough that light can be seen through it. If this happens before the dough tears, it's ready. Otherwise, keep kneading until the windowpane test succeeds.
• Add the potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, and garlic (if using). Knead on low speed until mix-ins are fully incorporated, about 4 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, then transfer to an oiled bowl. Rotate the dough to coat it in oil, cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour (option A) or 3 hours (option B).

Option A: Original rise process

• Grab the dough by the far edge, fold it in toward the middle. Rotate the bowl and repeat fold (grab the far edge, fold to the middle). Turn 90 degrees, repeat fold. Turn another 90 degrees, fold. Flip the dough ball so it rests seam side down, recover, and let rest 1 hour.
• On a very lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into two equal portions (each should weigh about 600-700 grams). Cover and let rest 15 minutes. Working with one ball at a time, first gently press down to flatten the dough and release trapped gas inside. Turn the edges under the center, forming a tight round ball (or shape as desired).
• Flour a linen kitchen towel and place each dough ball at either end. Lift the towel in the middle to make a pleat in between the two loaves. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or another clean towel, let proof 1 hour while the oven pre-heats.

Option B: Lazy rise process

• Once the dough has risen 3 hours, follow the folding directions from Option A step 1, in order to form the two shaped dough balls.
  

Baking

• Place a large pizza stone, cast iron griddle, or two large Dutch ovens with lids on the middle rack of your oven. Pre-heat to 450 F. If using a griddle or pizza stone, put a rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack.
• Once the oven is pre-heated and has been at 450 F for at least 15 minutes, work quickly to slash the tops of the loaves with a sharp razor blade or knife, about ⅓-inch deep, using whatever decoration you prefer.
  
• If using pizza stone or griddle, immediately transfer the slashed loaves onto the pre-heated surface, add 2 cups of ice to the rimmed baking sheet, then shut the oven door. The ice creates steam, ensuring a crusty loaf.
• If using the dutch ovens, remove the lids, place the loaves inside, replace the lids, and shut the oven door. The baking bread creates it own steam within the closed dutch ovens.
• Don't open the oven until ready to remove the bread. Bake for 40 minutes, until bread is dark golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. Cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Calories displayed are for a single loaf of bread.

Nutrition

Calories: 1155kcal | Carbohydrates: 212g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 4676mg | Potassium: 1168mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 14.6mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 4.2mg