A long time back, Katie (ThymeForCooking) ask me about what I was reading.  I thought it would give me a kick in the pants to start reading something besides cookbooks.  But, it hasn’t yet really.

Some years after Asimov’s Forward the Foundation came out, I picked it up at the library and quickly went through it.  Since I’d missed Foundation and Earth earlier too,  I decided to go back to the beginning.  No, I mean I went back to the very beginning, made myself a chronological publication list and read through all his science fiction most of which I’d read when I was between 12 and 15 and then some after that. 

You see when I was growing up on all these Air Force Bases around the country, I was absolutely positive I’d be a space traveler.  My little friend and I were pretending we were taking our babies on a space trip when the MP’s picked us up on the runway in front of our house.  Yep, we were pushing our baby dolls in their little buggies down the jet runway.  With an imagination like that who needs a rocket.

And with that digression how do I get us back to Oatmeal Potato Bread?  Well, I’m getting that feeling again.  Like I went back a re-read all Asimov’s SF (he wrote a lot of them and then he wrote more on science & history: total over 500) my feeling here is I’m about to embark on a multi-loaf exploration of potato breads.  Instead of retro reading what I read as a youngster, I’ll be trying new recipes for potato bread.  What can I say, I get crazed sometimes.

To the Bread already!

Oatmeal-Potato Bread

adapted from

A Bread For All Seasons

Beth Hensperger

1 russet potato (about 6 ounces - mine was 11 ounces)  unpeeled, cut into chunks

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

2 teaspoons yeast (recipe called for 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon sugar - I omitted

1.5 c milk

1 tablespoon salt

1.5 c rolled oats

5.5 to 6 c flour: I used 1 c white whole wheat & 4 c unbleached bread flour

2.5 tablespoons flax seed meal

Microwave unpeeled potato & 2/3 c water till potato is tender (about 6 minutes).  Reserve 1/2 c potato water, mix with butter and put potato through food mill into water (the skin should pretty much stay behind in the food mill - no need to peel).

Mix yeast and two cups bread flour.

Mix together potato mixture, milk (I generally microwave to bring it to skin temp - neutral, not warm not cold), salt, rolled oats and the two cups yeasted flour. 

Knead by hand or mixer to combine.  Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until a shaggy dough forms just clearing the sides of the bowl.  Important to note here, it is very easy to add too much flour to this bread so remember the dry oat meal is going to suck moisture and try to leave this moist.  As I knead to get a smooth dough, the only flour I add is what sticks to my hand when I dust it with flour.

Place the dough ball in oiled container, cover, allow to double in volume: mine took 80 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions for shaping.

I shaped one into a regular loaf pan.  The other half of the dough I shaped into a rectangle and used the French tapered rolling pin to do the fendu shape and didn’t take any pictures like I intended.  I’ll try hard to redo this soon and update with some photos.   My oblong banneton basket is sort of short so I had to tuck the ends in a little after rolling the two halves together.  

Hence that cute little knob at the one end.

Preheat oven to 425°F - I generally fail to mention that my baking stone lives in my oven, removed almost never.  I always allow at least 30 minutes and often times an hour to preheat the oven.

You guessed shower cap!

My readers are so smart! 

You make me so proud. 

I felt really smart when I found a use for all those motel shower caps we’ve collected for years.  Now if only I could use up all those motel shampoos, I’d have an empty drawer!

Bake at 425°F for the first 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350° F for another 40 minutes.  Mine registered 200°F when I called them done: nicely browned, the loaf was pulling away from the side and hollow sounding.

We enjoyed the loaf first.   Very tasty.  Made terrific sandwiches.   Believe I enjoyed both the texture and color of the crust and the crumb of Hamelman’s Roasted Potato Bread better than this one.  Toasting this one took much longer than toasting Hamelman’s Roasted Potato Bread and neither had any added sugar but this one used milk.  The loaf shape was better for this bread than the fendu shape somehow.

Next time:  Add maybe 2 tablespoons sugar to see what effect that would have on crust color and toasting qualities.  Might try a tablespoon or two more potato liquid.  Might even up the yeast another 1/2 teaspoon or use some of my nameless starter.

However I change it,  this was very good just as it was.

Will you be really upset if the next post is another potato bread?  Or beans, would beans be better?