Leek & Potato Variety Bread
I saw a picture in "20 Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, L'equipe de France De Boulangerie", page 169.
the book the page
I can't read French and my google translator is not doing a good job in letting me know how it is made. Suffice to say it involves brioche, potato, and some sort of cheese.
I don't feel like a very sweet dough, so I thought a normal bread dough will do me fine. I added leek as leek and potato are sort of a classic combination which you often see in quiches. I used parmigiano and French goat cheese.
Dough weight 600 g divided into two pieces; 1/2 to line the rectangular baking tin, measuring 12 cm x 36 cm; the other 1/2 for lace on top. One big potato very thinly sliced and poached in milk. One leek sliced and pan-fried very briefly in very, very hot pan for 1 & 1/2 min with a little olive oil. Only the very high heat in contact with the vegitable brings out the lovely caramelized effect that keeps the dough from being soggy. Slow cook is no good.
1. first layer of cheese goes in
2. in goes leeks and goat cheese
3. roll out the second piece of dough, run a rolling lacer over it
4. place the laced dough on top, seal the edges and egg (yolk) wash it
5. Oops! I almost burned it. Only 19 min in 230 C oven and it burned; well, nearly.
6. Let's have a slice!
Lessons:
A. Kids don't like it when it's too doughy. Next time cut down the dough weight by 1/3 to 400 g for the size. The thinner the dough, the heavier the filling, the better it is.
B. Incorporate freshly cooked salmon (with dill and lemon), or grilled boneless chicken thigh for a complete meal.
Enjoy!
Shiao-Ping
Comments
Another very interesting, very pretty bread, Shiao-Ping. The combination of leeks and goat cheese sounds fabulous. Would you include a picture of the lacer? Thanks.
--Pamela
Lovely looking and how I can taste this with my eyes! Goat cheese and Leeks are favorite foods and very attractive looking shape. Another one for my to do list! This would be nice useing a puff or danish pastry...but so much less work with a bread dough!
Sylvia
On hind sight, puff pastry would be a better idea than bread; bread is just too doughy (but puff pastry is so much more fattening). I once made a salmon puff pastry (I got the idea from making Wellington Beef); the salmon was seasoned with lemon and dill, then wrapped in mashed potatos and leek (both vegetables cooked beforehand). It's a favorite of my family.
Shiao-Ping
Hi Pamela
I bought this lacer from a pastry supply store in Taiwan.
I've had it for quite a while but this was the first time I used it. You run this thing over your dough and it creates a lacey effect on your dough. But the plastic thin blade doesn't cut dough all that well; for best result, I've found that to do a small section (say, 5 cm of the length of the dough) at a time works much better, you have to press it really hard, then stop, and pull the section you've just done gently apart to try to let the lace show (and if need be, use scissors to help cut it open).
It will creat really nice effect on sweet puff pastry too.
Thanks for showing me a picture of it. In the US we call this a lattice pastry dough cutter.
--Pamela
Hi Pamela, I have to laugh (when I called that tool a "lacer", I knew my terminology wouldn't be right, but I figured people would know what I meant). Thanks for the right name - I've got it.
Shiao-Ping
This is all part of the cultural exchange! :-)
--Pamela