Biga and Rosemary Potato Bread Tuesday, April 17, 2007

I've been in quite the bread making mode, every weekend I just feel compelled to make loaves of bread. Maybe I'm comforted by the very act of kneading the dough, there is something so deeply elemental about the whole act.



It reminds me of when I was into ceramics, there you also knead the clay much like you knead dough. The turning and pushing of the clay/dough till it is the perfect malleability, I'll admit I lose myself a bit. I can perform the action almost as if in a trance, turn, push, turn, push. I lose myself in the repetitive motion, my mind wanders and drift while my body settles into the rhythm.  

Perhaps I am failing completely at describing why bread making appeals to me so deeply.

My coworkers have been enjoying the fruits of my obsession, nearly every week I bring in a new loaf of bread on Monday morning. I would love to keep it in the house but I don't think I could finish an entire loaf by myself.

Well, I could, but that would mean that I would have that thick doughy feeling about myself and thus force myself to spend extra hours in the gym working it off.

This weekend I was inspired by Deb over at Smitten Kitchen so try my hand at biga and then the potato rosemary bread .

This potato rosemary bread was tender and rich, with a decent crust. I'll admit I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping for something with a heartier crust and lighter crumb simply because that is what I was in the mood for on Sunday, but really the crust and crumb on this is perfect.

My only edits to the recipe would be this, I made my mashed potatoes by boiling them in some water till tender, riced them and them stirred in a bit of cream. It really made for the most deliciously fluffy and delicate potatoes, I'm glad I made a wee bit extra because they turned out to be the cook's treat. Also in the future I would probably add the roasted garlic to the potatoes and thus skip the step of adding it seperately. I feel it would be better incorporated into the bread that way.




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Skeezix  Tuesday, April 17, 2007

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