Insanely Delicious Roasted Garlic Potato Bread

Prep time: 35 minutes

Resting time: 2 hours and 40 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes per two loaves. Yields 4 small loaves

1 whole head garlic

3 cups lukewarm water

2 packets yeast (or 1 ½ Tbsp)

2 tsp salt

1 ½ Tbsp sugar

1 cup mashed potato                                 

6 cups bread flour (King Arthur flour is my favorite)

Cornmeal for baking

Equipment: Stand mixer or food processor, pizza peel and pizza stone

1. Place pizza stone on the middle rack of your oven.

2. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes in a 400°.  When cool, cut off the top of the head and squeeze out the garlic cloves.  Set aside

3. In stand mixer bowl, (at least 5 quart) fitted with dough hook, food processor (14 cup) fitted with dough blade or large mixing bowl: mix yeast, salt, sugar, mashed potato and roasted garlic with the water.

4. Slowly, add the flour until fully incorporated.

5. Cover, loosely, with plastic wrap (not airtight) and allow dough to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours.  Dough will rise and then collapse to a flattened top.

6. Liberally sprinkle cornmeal onto the pizza peel and set aside.  Heat oven to 450° and place a jelly roll pan or any lipped baking pan on rack below your pizza stone.

7. After 2 hours, lightly flour your hands and remove the dough from bowl.  Divide into 4 relatively equal pieces (about the size of a grapefruit) and form into a ball or roll into a baguette shape.

8. Place dough onto the pizza peel and let rest another 40 minutes at room temperature. Depending on how large your peel and baking stone, you may only be able to fit two loaves at a time.  Refrigerate any unbaked dough in a covered, but not airtight container for up to 3 days.

9. After 40 minutes, sprinkle flour over your loaves and slash a cross or any design with a serrated knife over top.

10.  Slide the dough off the peel onto the stone, carefully.  Pour 1 cup of warm tap water into the pan below and close the oven door quickly to prevent the steam from escaping.  This will help form a nice crusty exterior to your bread.

11. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until exterior is deep brown and firm to the touch.  Adjust your baking time if you make your loaves larger or smaller.

12. Try to allow bread to completely cool before ripping it apart.  Best served warm with extra virgin olive oil, or basically anything you have.  This bread is fantastic.

This recipe works just as well if you halve it and it freezes really well.  Bread baking is not as hard as you might think...for a simpler recipe, look back at an earlier post for Bread Baking.

Enjoy!

MJM

Recipe adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

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