My neighbor L wrote this down for me and I tried it a couple of days ago. It’s a bit time-consuming to make, but it’s good.
1 potato, peeled & cubed
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp shortening
1 tsp salt
Roughly six cups flour
Cook the potato in 1 1/2 cups water till it’s tender. Cool to lukewarm. Set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid; mash the potato in the remaining liquid and add water to make 2 cups potato mixture. Soften the yeast in the reserved 1/2 cup liquid.
In mixing bowl, combine potato mixture, yeast mixture, sugar, shortening and salt, mix well. Stir in 2 cups of flour, beat well. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Stir it down, mix in enough remaining flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Turn it out on a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Shape dough into a ball, put it in a greased bowl and grease the top. Cover, let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Punch it down, turn it out on floured surface and divide it in half. Cover @let rest about 10 minutes, form into loaves, place in greased bread pans. Cover, let rise until almost doubled. You can brush on milk, corn meal or flour as you like.
Bake @ 375o for 40-45 minutes.
Your bread will rise MUCH better if you add all the flour at the start. Add flour and knead until it is smooth and elastic, THEN let it rise, punch down, etc. If you add flour after the yeast begins to work, it will never really mix completely and can make the bread tough. I simply won’t develop the gluten properly to hold the gas produced by the yeast.
Try it without adding any flour after the first rise and I think you’ll see the difference.
Sending you a picture of my potato bread. Pretty much the same recipe, just without adding any flour after it rises the first time.
Take the potato mixture, add just a few grains of yeast and half cup flour, place in a mason jar covered with a coffee filter or square of cotton cloth, place in a warmish spot, wait a week or two and you will have sourdough starter.
Matt, you skipped several vital steps there. Left alone, after a week or two, you’ll have nothing but toxic waste!! Sourdough isn’t difficult, but it does require a bit more participation than that. 🙂 I’ll be glad to send you directions and recipes if you like. 🙂
ML, that might be a good idea. I had a batch that went well for a month, then it turned green and orange.
MamaLiberty, Could I get your sourdough starter recipe? E-mail is eshsmcr@mindspring.com. Thanks in advance! rustynail