It has been aptly stated by James Beard that “Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
Potato Dill Bread
(adapted from 100 Great Breads)
1 tbsp active dry yeast
Water, as required
500g (1lb) strong white flour
2 tsp salt
4 potatoes, peeled and julienned or diced
6 cloves of garlic ( I upped the garlic by way too many, just the way I like it)
Olive oil for frying the potatoes
30g (1 oz) fresh dill
1. In a bowl, dilute yeast in warm water. Add a pinch of sugar for the yeast to activate faster. Let it stand till nice and foamy.
2. Add flour, water and salt and knead till you’ve got a malleable dough. Let it rest overnight.
3. Punch down the dough and add to it most of the chopped dill. Divide the dough onto two pieces and flatten to form an oval shape and place on greased baking sheet. Let it rise for 1-2 hours.
4. In the mean time, heat the olive oil, add the garlic and fry till lightly golden. Add the potatoes and fry until cooked. After it has cooled, poke the potatoes into the dough, sprinkle with the remaining dill and let the 2 hour rising period complete.
5. Preheat oven to 225ºC or 450ºF and bake for 20-30 minutes. If you’d like a slightly crustier bread, spray with water after ten minutes of baking.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I absolutely agree with James Beard on this- and your bread is a great feast! Looks fabulous-mmmm.
Great looking bread! I’m glad it was well worth the effort.
Awesome looking bread.
You know, I’ve been looking at this bread for three days now. Not continuously, of course, but I’ve been staring periodically at it longingly. Gorgeous!
Thanks everyone. And eating club Vancouver: I’m so flattered! Thank you.
There is a suprise for you in my blog. Click here to know what the suprise is, http://kitchenflavours.blogspot.com/2008/07/fruit-chaat.html
You have a nice site. I’m about to try some of the recipes on it.
Someone told me the flour here had less gluten…if so, when you mention strong flour, what exactly could one use as a substitute here?
I reside in Mumbai, quite close to the Crawford Market…
Hi Paul, I agree about the low protein content… However, all the bread I’ve made on the blog has been with the local flour without any additions.
I mention strong flour because that’s what the recipe I used called for, and that is what should give the perfect loaf. If you still want to get strong white flour, you can find it at Hypercity in Malad. Although, I’m not sure if you’d want to travel all the way just for a pack of flour.
That said, you also get gluten powder that you can add to the flour at Continental Stores inside Crawford Market. They also have something called “bread improver” which I’m curious about.
Hi Shaheen,
I have actually bought the bread improver from Continental, and even though I’ve used it, I don’t have the slightest clue if it helped or not.
ps – I don’t think the ‘notify me of the followup comments via email’ tickbox below this is working….
Hey Shaheen,
When you say that let the dough rest overnight,do you mean let it rest out on the kitchen counter for the whole night? In this mumbai hot weather wont it turn too sour for consumption?
If you’re worried about that then you could keep it in the refrigerator overnight and then remove it 3-4 hours before you want to bake your bread.
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