Oatmeal-Potato Bread

Very tasty indeed! Plus, it's always fun to make a different sort of bread...I especially love the look with the oatmeal on the outside!


In a medium saucepan:
1 russet potato (about 6 ounces), scrubbed and cut into large chunks

Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook until tender. About 20 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 a cup of the liquid. Let the water cool to 105-115 F. Mash the potato (after peeling) with 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature. You should have 3/4 to 1 cup puree.

In a small bowl:
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar over the potato water. Let sit until foamy.

In a large mixing bowl:
Combine the mashed/pureed potato, yeast mixture, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 cups warm milk, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 1/2 cups regular rolled oats, and two cups of the flour (5 1/2-6 total). Beat hard to combine, about one minute. Then add the remaining flour 1/2 a cup at a time, until you have a shaggy dough that clears the side of the bowl. Knead 3-4 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy.

Place the dough in a deep greased container. Cover with a piece of plastic and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours.

Gently deflate the dough and shape. Grease two 9x5 inch pans. Roll the bottoms of the two loaves of bread in dry oatmeal. Place in the pans. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes..

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake 25-30 minutes and check for a hollow sound when tapped. Bake longer if needed. Remove and cool.

Homestyle White Bread with Poppy Seeds

I apologize for the lack of detail in the following three posts! After some technical difficulties with the camera we were finally able to get the pictures off it, and rather then wade through the sixty plus pictures to find all the bread related ones I decided to just have a picture of the finished product.

Now for the good stuff! And this sure was! It looks and tastes beautiful. :)


Directions:

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup:
3/4 cup warm water (105-115 F)
Sprinkle over the water:
1 Tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
pinch of sugar

Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy.

In a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups warm milk (105-115 F)
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons Salt
5-5 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour

Add two cups of flour initially, then add the yeast mixture. Then add flour 1/2 a cup at a time until you have a shaggy dough that clears the side of the bowl. Knead 3-4 minutes. Or until dough springs back when pressed.

Place in a greased deep container turning to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk. About 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Then:
Gently deflate the dough and grease two 9x5 inch clay or metal loaf pans. Divide the dough into two pieces and form. Place in the loaf pans and cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise 30-45 minutes (doubled in bulk).

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375. In a small bowl beat 1 large egg with 1 Tablespoon of milk or cream (I think I may have used water). Brush the glaze over the top of the bread. Then immediately sprinkle with 1 tablespoon per loaf of the poppy seeds. Bake 40-45 minutes (10 minutes longer for clay pans). Or until loaves are brown and sound hollow when tapped with finger. Cool before slicing.