Potato Bread

So I needed to get my hands on a loaf of potato bread…

I was enjoying a ritualistic and obsessive flip through all my past issues of Food Network magazine (which I hoard), and I found a breakfast casserole (here) that I reallllly wanted to make.  Ingredients added to shopping list – check!  I arrived at the grocery store and began crossing items off my list, but I was striking out on the potato bread. So I figured I could grab a potato and make some when I got home.  I’m sure another bread would have served my purposes just as well in lieu of actual potato bread.  I’m tempted to berate myself for wasting time to bake bread when it’s so easy to just obtain it instead.  For some reason, however, I get a lot of satisfaction from making something myself. And in the interest of enjoying the little things in life, I’m going to humor myself.  I’m indulging in simple pleasures like the smell of bread baking in the oven and the way I’m pleasantly surprised every time I peek at my rising dough and find that it’s doubled in size as if by magic.  (Or science. There might be science involved.)

Today I’m giving myself permission to simply enjoy the experience because it makes me happy. And I refuse to experience guilt over the fact that it wasn’t the fastest means to an end.  My effort to live mindfully and enjoy the journey gives me the motivation to start exploring what I’m fascinated and excited by and to realize that it’s just SO TOTALLY OK to spend time on those things.  The truth is that even though I can buy a perfectly delicious (maybe better) loaf of bread at one of a hundred bakeries or grocery stores in my foodie-friendly city, I just want to bake bread.  And I’m going to indulge that.

May I tell you another wonderful thing about taking the time to bake/prepare/cook your own food instead of eating something that was made by someone else?  The delayed gratification and respect for the process makes me appreciate every bite of that food so much more!  Knowing what we know about the relationship between food and disease, I am more careful than ever to be mindful about avoiding overeating.  I am making an effort to appreciate the hell out of every calorie instead of mindlessly inhaling foods of convenience.

To answer the obvious question, yes, it was more work.  HOWEVER… it was so good. It was soft and squishy and pillowy and fresh, and so bready. And let me tell you, it made that egg casserole really tasty. We (not so mindfully) annihilated all the leftover bread within a couple of days, but I imagine that if you could keep the bread around longer than that, it would be delicious in a number of iterations – like as toast, or as the outside of a sandwich, or … I don’t know, FRENCH toast, or maybe dipped in oil.  Whatev.  I know I want to make it again. And there you have it.  Plenty of reasons to sit down and bake a loaf of potato bread.

The recipe was easy to find – I googled “potato bread” or something to that effect, and I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website.  I was so pleased that I promptly signed up to receive their regular recipe emails.  Because I obviously need more stuff to sift through in my inbox.

I used the recipe as directed except that I halved it so that I would only make one loaf, and I also substituted whole wheat flour for part of the white flour.  (So for 3 1/4 total cups of flour, I used 2 cups of whole wheat and 1 1/4 cups of white.)

Happy carbo-loading, friends.  And here’s my favorite dog food.  This is a test.

[lt_recipe name=”Whole Wheat Potato Bread” servings=”10″ difficulty=”Easy” summary=”The perfect soft and fluffy loaf of bread!” print=”yes” image=”http://www.eighteenalmonds.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Potato-Bread-6-209×300.jpg” ingredients=”1 tbsp instant yeast;1/2 c sugar;1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c lukewarm potato water (water in which potatoes have been boiled);12 tbsp softened butter;2 1/2 tsp salt;2 large eggs;1 c mashed potatoes (from about 1/2 pound of potatoes);3 1/4 c all purpose flour; 3 1/4 c whole wheat flour;” ]Beat together all of the ingredients in a stand mixer for 4-5 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and shiny;Knead for about 7 minutes with the dough hook, clearing the sides of the bowl occasionally if needed.;Gather the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl or plastic bag. Refrigerate 24 hours or overnight.;Divide the dough in half and shape into two loaves. Place each in a greased 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.;Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap or a towel and allow to rise 2-4 hours or until the dough has risen above the edge of the pan. When they’re done rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.;Bake 25 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil, and continue baking and additional 15-20 minutes until golden brown.;Remove from oven and place on racks to cool. After 5 minutes, invert the pans to remove the loaves.;Store at room temperature for a few days, or freeze.[/lt_recipe]