by MrsWheelbarrow
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A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand CollapseMrsWheelbarrow's Notes:
Expand1.25 cups warm water Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons yeast Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup leftover mashed potates, with or without skin Ask a question about this ingredient
3-4 cups flour (I use bread flour, but AP works fine) Ask a question about this ingredient
1 tablespoon salt - divided Ask a question about this ingredient
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped - divided Ask a question about this ingredient
3 tablespoons olive oil, or use 1/2 olive and 1/2 oil from the tomatoes Ask a question about this ingredient
.25 cups rough chopped well drained pitted nicoise or kalamata olives Ask a question about this ingredient
.25 cups rough chopped well drained oil packed roasted tomato Ask a question about this ingredient
Whisk together yeast and water in a large bowl and allow to bloom for 5 minutes.
Ask a question about this stepMix together with the potatoes, one cup of flour and 2 tsp each rosemary and salt and allow to rest and absorb for 10 minutes.
Ask a question about this stepAdd two more cups of flour and stir until the dough starts to come together in a shaggy mass. Turn out onto a floured surface and allow to rest for 10 minutes (while washing and drying the bowl, which you will use again.)
Ask a question about this stepGently knead the bread. Lift it from one side using a bench scraper, fold and turn 1/4 turn. Then lift, fold and turn again. Do this several times until the dough has come together and is soft and elastic. Be gentle. You want to retain little pockets of potato. Add as little additional flour as possible. Instead, if the dough becomes sticky, allow the dough to rest, to absorb the flour, and then continue to knead until the dough is soft and elastic.
Ask a question about this stepPlace the ball of dough into a well oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for 1-1/2 hrs. For a more rustic bread, allow to rise slowly in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Ask a question about this stepWhen the dough has risen, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and oil the parchment well. Gently roll the dough out of the bowl onto the parchment. Divide the dough into two pieces and press the two breads out into rustic rounds or rectangles. Cover loosely and allow to rise for an hour.
Ask a question about this stepPreheat the oven to 425. Make dimples in the top of the dough with your fingertips and dab all over with the oil. Sprinkle with olives, tomatoes, coarse salt and rosemary.
Ask a question about this stepBake for 25-30 minutes. The bread should read 190 degrees when it is done. Cool on a rack.
Ask a question about this stepThis was outstanding! I cut the salt in half b/c I felt like my potatoes were salty enough (caramelized onion/goat cheese ones from this site) but it was a mistake. My bread is not quite salty enough. The original recipe is perfect and when I remake it I'll stick to it :) Thank you!
I'm so pleased you tried it! Thank you for the nice comment!
Wow, I just came across this. Have to try it this week. Potatoes, olives, roasted tomatoes (bags of them in the freezer!), oh my.
Please let me know how it goes!
Mrs. W - We just enjoyed this with a bowl of veggie soup. It was the perfect lunch. The bread is so flavorful and just the right texture. We topped it with some halved grape tomatoes that we slow roasted in the oven all morning with some oil, salt, pinch of sugar, and rosemary. Thanks for an excellent recipe.
Hi Melissa, I'm so glad you enjoyed this flatbread. In fact, you have helped me plan my dinner by reminding me of this recipe! Ha!
Mmmmm. Cannot WAIT to try this -- notwithstanding Mr. T's comment last night, "We have a lot of bread." (Gee, how did that happen?!) Will probably add pine nuts, and will probably try the 24 hour icebox rise. And will definitely leave the peels on, using red potatoes. Stay tuned. ;o)
I'd like to address Antonia James' comments about salt in the mashed potatoes. I have made this bread for years, and in fact, made it several time just since I first put it on the site. (I taught it in a flatbread class recently, so lots of testing.)
I've had no problems at all with the yeast or the rise. In fact, while it slowly rose in the refrigerator yesterday, it was so rambunctious, it blew the ziplock bag open.
Thanks! Actually, the salt doesn't kill the yeast, it can just slow down its action. The less diluted the salt, the greater the effect. I'm going to test this recipe both ways . . . . adding salt with the potato mixture, and adding it with the larger quantity of flour later, to see the difference in the rise times. Over the years, I've developed the habit of always adding the salt well mixed with the flour. Time is usually of concern to me . . . I.e., I typically don't have the luxury of very long risings.
At what point do you add the yeast after you've proofed it in the water? I can't tell from the recipe. Thanks!
Thanks AJ, fixed it - you start with the yeast proofed, then add flour, etc. One bowl - my kind of cooking.
Mrs. W, when do you add the yeast mixture? I don't see it in the recipe. I ask because most people salt the water in which they cook their mashed potatoes. Salt kills yeast, instantly. In fact, the easiest way to utterly ruin a batch of bread dough is to put anything -- like salted potato cooking water or the potatoes themselves, if they have been salted -- directly into contact with the yeast. I know. I've learned this lesson the hard way. I do however save all potato cooking water (and freeze it within a day or two if I don't use it for bread or adding to soup) to use in my bread making. But I'm careful, and treat my yeast with the greatest of respect.
While I've heard tell of issues with yeast and salt, I've never had any problems at all with this, or other, recipes. I always bloom the yeast, and then add flour for a second short bloom, before adding salt and the rest of the flours and additions. Perhaps that's why there is no negative interaction.
Thanks, Mrs. W, for posting this recipe. Everyone should know that mashed potatoes greatly improve so many breads. (My icebox oatmeal roll recipe, posted at Christmas time, also uses mashed potatoes.) Actually, now that I think about it, we've always called my mother's potato roll recipe "Featherbeds," which just about sums it up. ;o)
This bread can be made with smooth mashed potatoes - like a potato puree - or a rough mash with the skins left on. I've made this flatbread with russet, red-skinned and yukon gold, and my favorite is the red skinned, with skins left on and smashed but rather lumpy.
What a great idea!
This was outstanding! I cut the salt in half b/c I felt like my potatoes were salty enough (caramelized onion/goat cheese ones from this site) but it was a mistake. My bread is not quite salty enough. The original recipe is perfect and when I remake it I'll stick to it :) Thank you!