December 2, 2007 - 4:06pm
Potato Bread with Roasted Onions
Here is a Potato Bread with Roasted Onions from Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread. Nice moist crumb, crackly crust and lots of flavor. It's a yeasted dough with a pate fermentee. I shaped it in the fendu style, as recommended by Hamelman. Next time I will initially roast the onions a bit less, as they end up a bit too toasty after the long bake required of a potato bread.
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Beautiful, Liz. I love the fendu style, and you manage it so perfectly.
Potato and roasted onion, sounds so tasty. I know I'm making 4 rye breads tomorrow but I might try this one too. Great job. Would you have any tips besides not roasting the onions too much? weavershouse
Browndog and Weavershouse: Thank you! This was my first attempt at doing a fendu shaped bread -- I followed Hamelman's directions and it was quite easy. I used a French style rolling pin -- the split seals up during the proofing in the banneton, but opens quite nicely during the bake. I used both a round and an oval banneton-- the round one was quite the obvious anatomical shape when it rose in the oven!
My only other suggestion is to listen to Hamelman when he says that potatoes add a lot of moisture to the dough. During mixing the dough seemed quite dry and I added extra water. I ended up with a very lax dough. The mid-fermentation fold helped quite a bit to add some strength to the dough and, as you can see, the crumb was quite "holey". But I should have heeded Hamelman's advice to resist the urge to add more water.....
It was kind of nice to work wth a yeasted hearth bread for a change.
Weavershouse: Are you using freshly milled rye in your rye breads? I am still just totally knocked out by the taste of freshly milled rye.
This bread is worth a try!
Liz
I pick up my order for rye on Wednesday and then I can try. I can't wait. In the meantime I'm using up rye that I already have. I'll let you know as soon as I try my own milled flour.
Thanks for the tips for the potato onion bread. I don't know if I can manage that fendu shape you did so well but I'll give it a try. weavershouse
Weavershouse: I am looking forward to hearing about your reactions to freshly milled rye. As we have discussed, I have found freshly milled rye to be even better than fresh whole wheat. From what you have said, I think you enjoy rye based breads as I do. And, the fresh, moist earthy taste of freshly milled rye is just incredible.
Really, the fendu shape is rather easy. If you have Hamelman's book, just follow his directions on p. 82. If you don't have his book, please let me know and I will try to excerpt it for you. I used a wooden rolling pin that was 2" in the mid section, but a dowel or broom handle would also work. Just flour the top of the dough quite liberally before applying pressure with the dowel.
Liz
I do love rye based breads. I remember my mother having rye toast every night. It was about 8 or 8:30. I'm starting to do the same thing. We have light dinners and the toast is just right.
Tell me, Liz, do you grind your rye very fine/ I use a Nutrimill. (I think that's the name, it's not here if front of me). I can't believe I forgot its name :>(
Do you ever sift your flour to make a medium or light flour or do you always use it as is?
Thanks for your advice. I can't wait to try it. One more question, do you know where the thread is where we discussed the rye??
Oh, another thing...I do have Hamelman's book and read about making the fendu shape. Looks easy. I'll let you know. weavershouse
Weavershouse, I hope you don't mind me jumping in to tell you that Susanfnp gives great instructions for fendu shaping on her website. I think it is under her Semi-sourdough recipe. I went to the local hardware store and bought a dowel which they cut to length for me and it works really well. A.
Weavershouse: I am such a newcomer to milling, but here is what I have done thus far in milling rye. I, too, use a Nutrimill. I have been grinding it on the finest setting that I can. I like the taste of the whole rye, but have sifted it for a lighter rye when called for in a recipe. I have a finely meshed tamis that I use for sifting flour -- I think it just removes the hard bran. However, I try to use the whole grain whenever possible and when I think it won't negatively affect the recipe.
Some recent discussions on rye are here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4618/discussion-grain-milling
and here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4683/rye-flour
Am anxious to hear if you enjoy freshly milled rye like I do!
Keep us posted,
Liz
Thanks Liz for posting the discussions on rye I was looking for. That was asking a lot of you and I hope it didn't take you forever to find them. And Thanks too for the info on how you grind/sift your rye. I'll pick up my grain tomorrow and hopefully give it a try Friday. I'll let you know.
Thanks AnnieT for the hints on fendu. It looks pretty easy doesn't it? weavershouse
Where can I find the recipe for this bread please.
Cheers
Dave W
Dave:
The Potato Bread with Roasted Onions recipe is in Hamelman's Bread. If you don't have the book I will type out the recipe for you later today.
Liz
Fleur, that is fabulous looking fendu! Great job. I wish mine had turned out so well. Interesting, too, that you said yours also seemed to fuse together, as mine did, but yours expanded properly in the oven. I'm sure I'll try again one day.
I had tried it a few months ago using Hamelman's roasted potato bread and thought it was absolutely delicious. I bet adding onions would be equally so. You sure made a beautiful loaf.
Oh, btw, thanks for turning me on to trying the Leader, Pain de Campagne which I'm currently obssessed with. I have meant to post about it for a few weeks as it is simply a wonderful recipe. I'm so glad you mentioned it and that I tried it. Good stuff.
Zola: This bread was very good and has stayed fresh now for about 6 days, even though it is a yeasted bread. I guess potatoes do add to the bread's longevity. These loaves also had fabulous ovenspring which I think added to the fendu effect. Per Hamelman's instructions, I also floured the top of the bread liberally before pressing down on the rolling pin, I rocked the pin back and forth creating a very deep valley. I probably proofed them bannetons that were too small, but when they hit the oven they really expanded and the split really opened. Hamelman seems to underproof his recipes which produces fabulous ovenspring. The onion taste is noticeable but not at all overwhelming. Had some for lunch with a sharp white cheddar melted on top. Very good.
Are you enjoying your DLX? Once you get used to it (and I think I still am a year later!) it really produces a wonderful texture to the crumb.
Glad you are enjoying Leader's Pain de Campagne. It is probably my favorite "staple" sourdough and one that seems to please everyone. And, you can really fiddle with the degree of sourness to suit your taste. Do you have any other Leader's breads that you would recommend? Have you tried any of the ryes? I have made a few of his milder ryes and have enjoyed them very much. Have been milling my own rye, which really adds so much to the taste.
Thanks, again!
Liz
I think part of my problem was having dough a bit too wet for this method on top of not using a large enough dowel. Also, I think I let it proof on the counter rather than a banneton - not sure if that would make a difference. I will try again. And, yes, potatoes are wonderful for keeping bread longer. My Memo bread keeps way longer than I ever realized it could, that is if there is ever any not eaten right away.
I LOVE the DLX! I also loved my experience with Pleasant Hill Grains and I know with their customer service that should I ever need help they are as close as a phone call away. That's a big deal to me.
I love the Pain de Campagne so much that I started baking it all the time at the exclusion of some other breads just because I couldn't get enough! I would just like to figure out how to make it using my firm starter so I don't feel the need to build a liquid starter first. Or I'd love to figure out how to make it in one day using my firm starter - like a one-step Pain de Campagne. My brain isn't good at that stuff though.
Haven't tried a single rye yet and I really would like to. I was reading on another thread something I didn't know about rye flour. It was stated that whole rye is not the one to use but rather a medium rye. I can't find a medium rye anywhere in town that I've looked so far. I was very surprised to read that info and then wondered why it would not be easily purchased locally. Sigh, I guess I need to place another order with King Arthur.
And you mention milling your own flour. I really would like to buy the attachment to the DLX and mill some of my own flour, too.