Roasted Garlic Rosemary Potato Bread

So at the potluck I went to last month someone brought some amazingly delicious rosemary bread. Not sure if my love of rosemary has made it onto this blog yet- it's not as much of an obsession as ginger, but it's a flavor that makes it into much of what I bake. After tasting that bread I had to find a recipe.

This recipe from Brown Eyed Baker seemed to combine all the things I love in bread. So last weekend I baked up a batch. The result?

Yum...ish.

It was fine, just not the tastiness I was hoping for. I think it needed more salt, maybe some butter. But I'm thinking if I'd used my real mashed potatoes instead of just some leftover baked potato those flavors would've come through more. Or I could've brushed the bread with oil and sprinkled a little salt on before baking. Maybe next time.

The good news- the biga for this was the best dough I'd made since the baking hiatus- the perfect tacky but not sticky consistency.

TBP: Banana Bread & Brioche-ish Bread

The snowstorm going on outside my window at the moment reminded me some of bread I'd made a few months ago and never blogged about. It was day of the hurricane, and as the power can sometimes be fickle at the apartment, D and I decided to use up as many perishables as possible. That meant eggs and butter that could possibly go to waste, so I put them to good use making potatoy egg bread. There was also banana bread (middle bottom).

I went a little crazy over that dud of a hurricane.

Recipe #1: Brioche-ish (from Epicurious)

So I guess this isn't necessarily a brioche, but there are eggs and butter, so I'm going to call it that. Textually it reminded me of brioche, and it was nice and sweet. The recipe says two loaves but I was able to get three decent sized ones out of it. D & I ate the smallest, the one on the left was brought to my fav bar, and the one on the right was frozen and later turned into a seriously delicious bread pudding for a potluck at the same bar haha.

I think this was the largest amount of dough I'd worked with at once- eight cups of flour! But it came together well and I loved the resulting bread. Will probably make it again at some point.


Recipe #2: Banana Feather Loaf (from The Bread Bible)

My previous try at a yeast banana bread was pretty delicious. So when I saw this recipe from The Bread Bible I had to give it a try. The loaf was very different, obviously- light and sweet, banana flavor only especially pronounced when you toasted it. Very good for peanut butter sandwiches, or just warmed with butter.

As it was I made far too much bread that day. Definitely kept that in mind during this snowstorm- though I did bake, and may post about it later, assuming I can find my camera. Don't hold your breath though haha.

The Bread Project Week 8: Whole Wheat Potato Bread

Surprisingly on track with my variations on a recipe...well, kind of.

I was debating between two recipes- one from The Wooden Spoon Bread Book, the other from what I just checked out of the library: The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. In love with the latter from what little I've read, but it's a bit intimidating in that most breads require even more forethought than I'm used to (at least a day, maybe three). So I played it a bit safe and did one from the former.

The Recipe: Whole Wheat Potato Bread from The Wood Spoon Bread Book

The Changes: Butter instead of shortening, subbed in 1.5 tbs of honey as I ran out of molasses midway through. Also used one loaf pan and two random pans (all pyrex- one technically for pies, the other a larger oval pan), as that was all I had.

The Result: 

The Verdict: I should probably make smaller recipes. Or start giving this stuff away haha.

Seriously though, this was too much variation from last week's for me to get a good feel for the differences from Week 7's bread, but I'm happy with the result. I want to bake more whole wheat breads (much to D's dismay), and this had good texture and flavor. Still didn't have that potato-bread flavor I'm looking for though.

The Bread Project Week 7: Potato Bread & Flailing

So this week's loaf was someone on a whim. I intended to either remake The Learning Loaf, but maybe braid it? Either that or some english muffins or cornbread with yeast I'd had my eye on. Instead I drew another recipe from The Wood Spoon Bread Book!

Recipe: Dusty Potato Bread

I'd had some russet potatoes in the cupboard that weren't looking especially pretty anymore, and D is always bugging me to make him mashed potatoes. Also, unlike the wheat breads I've been making, D is madly in love with potato bread. So many birds killed with one stone.

I was doing a million other things in the kitchen that day so I let the first rise go on probably a bit too long, but all in all it came out well. Since the only actual potato came from the water the flavor wasn't there as strongly as I'd hoped, but I think it softened the texture up a bit.

My only change was using butter instead of shortening, as that's what I had on hand. Once again I was very pleased with the instructions in the book, and had no problem creating a bread that was delicious.

The Result:

 Maybe I should buy another loaf pan, as that second was made in a slightly larger dish.

Overall I'm feeling more confident in the technique, though I know there's still a ways to go. But given that the whole thing isn't as scary or overwhelming as it used to be I've started thinking about the direction on this project. Lately I've been just pulling recipes that look good or interesting without much thought as to direction. Given that the potato bread wasn't very...potatoy? I'm thinking about making it again next weekend, with another recipe.

Not too long ago I read this excerpt from a Mark Bittman book, which makes a lot of sense to me. I should pick a type of bread and for a few weeks make various recipes, taking note of things I like and don't like. It will give me an idea of what characteristics different ingredients bring to the table. Specifically, D wants yellow potato bread, which I think means eggs- right? So I'll find an eggy recipe, or maybe just one with actual potato in it, not just the water.

That's the overall goal- though don't be surprised if next week I'm making something random again.