Lev's Famous Potato Bread and Other Related Matters

[tcpip]

There seems to be two main versions of potato bread that are advertised. One follows a traditional Irish style, which is a lot of potatoes, a little bit of flour, then fried in a pan. The other version is an American potato bread, which is a lot of bread with a little bit of potato. A potato-flavoured white-bread, if you like. Neither of these is really to my taste. So I have since created Lev's Famous Potato Bread (well, it should be famous, and maybe one day it will be). Plus it's easy to make, and healthier, too.

• Dice and cook one onion


• Add four medium (c150g) potatoes (I prefer skin included), chopped very fine, or through a processor, and mash with add a cup of milk


• Add 3 cups of flour (I prefer half oat, half multi-grain wheat or wholemeal)


• Add 2 teaspoons of yeast


• Add 1 cup of warm water


• Important! Mix it up, even if you're using a bread-maker


• Bake loaf in your preferred manner. Lazy me likes bread-makers.


• Nom. No seriously, nom.

Add herbs to taste; plenty of garlic is a delicious option. This will create a loaf that is pretty much a third baked potato mash and two-thirds bread. It will be quite moist but will cut and goes really well with a pottage on a colder night. What you don't eat can be put in a bread basket and nibbled over the next few days as it gradually dries.

Now, the other reason for posting this is to say that I am still doing very well, thank you very much, with my diet and exercise regimen. Still following Silver Hydra's cheat mode, albeit with more cardiovascular activities thrown in. Since starting this just over a month ago I've dropped a remarkable 8 kgs, reaching a weight goal I set eight years ago, and I've noticed I'm two notches down on my belt. Energy levels have increased noticeably, and parts of my weights set which were somewhat painful I can do with ease - and dishes like the potato bread with a pottage are very much an acceptable part of this diet. My poor doctor in two month's time is going to be scratching their head.

EDIT: It has been pointed out that I really should mention aloo paratha in a discussion of potato bread.

Comments

[vatine]

Hm, I should probably try to figure out how much of everything that goes into kroppkakor (lit "body cakes"), a Swedish potato-based boiled dumpling. They're very very tasty when done right and quite horrible when done wrong.

edit And of course I forgot to say why "a recipe" would be hard for me, I cook them based on "this has the right consistency" which is super-hard to get into writing. But measures won't cut it, since different potatoes have different moisture content, so consistency really is the only way, which means taht to teach someone to make them, you must first have taught them to make them.

[tcpip]

Oh, I know of kroppkakor! Not sure where I know of them from. Former Swedish-heritage girlfriend from thirty tears ago? Ikea food court? Not sure.

Is your "right consistency" al dente?

[vatine]

The consistency change when you cook them, but the cooked consistency should be "al dente". The pre-cook consistency is the hard one. It should be... um... about.. oobleck? (yes, uncooked bodycake batter/dough is a rheopectic substance, so it needs to be constantly worked to be shaped). It should, when firmly rolled, have a dry surface and be about to crack. It will most probably pour through your fingers if you stop working it.

And fill it with a mixture of whatever you want, but traditionally it's a fried mix of onion and finely chopped bacon/pancetta/pork belly.

Oobleck!

[tcpip]

I had to look that up, and found a great definition and kids science experiment.

I love descriptions of thixotropy.

Re: Oobleck!

[vatine]

I suspect the two most commonly encountered thixotropic substances for most people are "shampoo" and "ketchup". I wonder if there are liquids that are both shear-thinning and shear-thickening in different shear pressure regimes?

Re: Oobleck!

[tcpip]

Maybe Silly Putty?

[tcpip]

More recommendations
Swedish Kroppkaka, .Norwegian Lompe, and Norwegian Lefse are added to the potato bread list.

I have also experimented with sweet potato mash as well, and it was damn fine with a gnocchi.