Potato Leek Bread
Apr 12th, 2009 by SteveB
With the arrival of spring here in New England (although with evening temperatures still below freezing, one would be hard-pressed to find evidence of spring’s return), gastronomic thoughts turn from the rich, substantial ‘comfort foods’ of winter to lighter, more refreshing fare. But what of those of us who would like to continue to enjoy some of the hearty flavors of winter throughout the year? Potato leek bread perfectly sates this desire. Suffused with the flavors of a rich potato leek soup, the deep, earthy aroma of freshly roasted potatoes and the slightly vegetal accent provided by the leeks combine to give a bread that would be ideally suited as an accompaniment to a salad or light broth.
The formula for potato leek bread described below is a slightly modified version of the one for pain au levain, as described in More Musings on Mixing…. The double flour addition technique works particularly well here to counteract the heaviness that potatoes and leeks can bring to the dough. The result is a moist, flavorful bread with a light, open crumb.
Final Dough
- 680 g King Arthur Organic Select Artisan Flour
- 90 g Medium Rye Flour
- 455 g Water
- 15 g Salt
- 300 g Levain (mature sourdough culture, 100% hydration)
- 230 g Red Potatoes, roasted
- 260 g Leeks, roasted
The potatoes and leeks are prepared the evening before the day of the bake. Leaving the skins on, the potatoes are cut into large chunks and the pieces are lightly coated with olive oil. The potato pieces are then placed in a roasting pan and roasted in a 375ºF oven until the potatoes are browned and tender, about 45 minutes. After cooling, the potato pieces are placed into a food processor and processed in pulses until a slightly chunky mixture is obtained. Be careful not to over-process to the point of yielding mashed potatoes. You are looking for fairly small chunks of potato to give the bread character.
The leeks can be prepared simultaneously with the potatoes. The leeks are first thoroughly washed to removed any sand trapped within the leaves. The tender part of the leeks (the white and a bit of green) is then finely chopped, placed in a pan and stirred with 1 tbs. of olive oil. The pan is then covered and also placed in a 375ºF oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. The leeks are then allowed to cool to room temperature. The consistency of the prepared potatoes and leeks are shown below:
Then next day, the organic white and medium rye flours are combined in a large bowl. The water and levain are then added to the bowl of a stand mixer and mixed on the lowest speed, using the whisk attachment, just until the levain became evenly dispersed in the water, about 1 minute. The mixer speed is then increased to speed 3 and just enough of the flour mixture (~75 g) is added to produce a loose batter. Whisking is continued until the mixture becomes well aerated, about 3 minutes. The whisk attachment is then exchanged for a spiral dough hook and after the remaining flour mixture is added, the dough is mixed at the lowest speed until all the ingredients are incorporated, about 2 minutes. The bowl is then covered with plastic wrap and allowed to rest for an autolyse period of 30 minutes.
After this time, the salt is added and the dough is mixed on speed 3 using the spiral dough hook until moderate gluten development is achieved, about 6 minutes. The prepared potatoes and leeks are then added to the dough and the dough is further mixed at the lowest speed until all the ingredients are incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. The wet, sticky dough is then transfered into a lightly oiled container, covered, and allowed to ferment for three hours, with a fold being performed halfway through the fermentation.
After the first fermentation, the dough is divided into two, 1 1/2 lb. pieces (a bit of extra dough remains and can be shaped into rolls) and each piece is lightly rounded. After resting under a plastic sheet for 15 minutes, the pieces are tightly shaped into boules and fendus are formed (see video here). The fendus are inverted and placed into rice flour-coated bannetons, covered with Saran Quick Covers and allowed a second fermentation of 3 hours. After the second fermentation, the fendus are inverted onto a peel, loaded into the oven and then baked at 425°F for 40 minutes with steam applied for the first 15 minutes.
OK, I’m convinced! With a big bowl of vegetable soup, it would be a perfect dinner on this dreary, wet day over here. Hey Steve, that looks YUMMY! 😉
I like very much your Potato Leek Bread. Thanks
Your potato-leek bread looks great, Steve! I bet it would be wonderful made as a 40% rye, too. Hmmm … My rye sour is on the counter feeding and getting fat. It needs some exercise.
David
What a good and unusual idea! A sort of all-in-one bread, that would probably make an excellent meal with some goat cheese and … a glass of red wine! Miam!
Sounds like a good project for my next weekend – fantastic looking bread, Steve!
Jane, ‘YUMMY’ doesn’t even begin to describe the flavor of this bread! 😉
Carmen, thanks for your comment. This is a bread you can enjoy just by inhaling its aroma!
David, I know you don’t want to have to live with the stigma of being parent to a flabby rye starter. Put that starter to work! 🙂
Flo, sounds great. What time is dinner? 🙂
Sally, thanks for the kind words. You’re going to love this bread. Try to get some good color on the potatoes when you roast them; it will really provide your bread with a wonderful potato aroma and flavor.
Extraordinary, I can only imagine the flavours, but both the mind and the soul are saying the same thing – this has to be the perfect combination. This is, unequivocally , the next bread in my oven. Thank you, Steve!
Gosia
Your bread looks fantastic!
Gosia and Mary, thank you both for your kind words.
Hello Steve,
First at all, thank you for sharing your knowledge; I bake from some month ago and your blog is one of the most important reference for me.
Till now I do the mixing worg by hand but today I received my brand new Kenwood KM010 and I want to do the first try with your last Potato Leek Bread.
Please can you tell me what mixer do you have, in order to investigate if your indications about speed can be more or less the same for me? There is another difference: I don’t have a spiral hook but a “C” hook, that I supose is a bit less efficient.
¿Can you help me?
Thanks in advance
Manel.
Manel, welcome to Bread cetera!
Congratulations on the purchase of your new Kenwood KM010 mixer. I am using a 10 speed, KitchenAid Professional 6 mixer. My suggestion for you would be to start with the speed recommended by Kenwood for kneading dough and to perform the final mix of your dough to medium gluten development, as judged by the window pane test. Different mixers and dough hooks have different mixing characteristics and you may have to experiment a bit with your mixer speed and mixing times before you find the right combination.
Thanks Steve,
I have just finished my own Potato Leek Bread. As I use a different flour than you, some improvements must be done, but I think that the result was good enough. The flavor of the bread is delicious and the crumb is very “spongy” (don’t know if the word is correct…)
I have to be very cautious with the speeds of my KM010. 4 minutes at speed 1 (23ºC) was sufficient to obtain a good window pane test.
Thanks again for your support.
Manel
RhÁ´, que de viennoiseries ici, et de sucreries, et de douceurs !
Comme Á§a a l’air bon tout Á§a !
Tatieva, bienvenue Á Bead cetera! Merci pour le compliment.
That sounds delicious! And the picture is great, like always.
Wow! I can’t believe the aroma permeating this page. What a great bread. I can’t wait to try it.
Beautiful bread Steve, as usual. I’m giving this a try tomorrow. Hope it works as well as yours.
weavershouse
This bread looks so yummy it’s going to be the next bread I’m going to make – can’t wait!
Steve, can you, or anyone else who cares to answer, explain the role of soy lecithin in bread baking? Is it used in conjunction with, or in place of sourdough starter? How much do we calculate how much should be used? A friend of mine uses soy lecithin but not sourdough starter because she though she didn’t need sourdough starter if using the lecithin. I have not had any experience using it and wonder if it improves breads and how. Thanks.
luv2bk, lecithin, whether it be derived from soy or other source, is an emulsifier, i.e., a substance that aids in the formation of a stable emulsion between water-soluble and oil-soluble ingredients. It is not a substitute for sourdough starter, which provides leavening and flavor to a bread. I tend to steer clear of unnecessary dough additives and therefore have never used lecithin (except the lecithin that is naturally present in egg yolks).
it sounds great!!!! Would it be possible to be done in a bread machine? With the same measures???
intxaurtsu, I’ve never used a bread machine to bake bread, but if I were to use one, I would probably use it just to mix the dough. The quantity of each ingredient should be adjusted to fit the capacity of your machine. I recommend baking the loaf on a pre-heated baking stone in a conventional oven to ensure the proper crust and crumb structure.
Steve,
Is the weight of potatoes and leeks pre or post cooking? There is more than a 50% decrease in weight after the roasting. Thanks.
Shane
Hi Shane,
The potatoes and leeks are weighed after roasting.
Steve,
Well with 1/2 the required leeks and potatoes the bread is still awesome, although i would encourage you to change the description. “230g potatoes, roasted” Implies that they are weighed and then roasted, as opposed to “230g roasted potatoes”. nonetheless anyone who reads the comments will find the answer as i tried before i wrote you. thanks again for so many awesome recipes.
shane
Hi steve! Do you think this formula will work with potatoes and ramps? Uncooked ramps, I imagine. It’s ramps season now, but I never tried them in other way than in salad. I’d appreciate to hear your opinion, thanks a lot!
Your site is awesome, I like to come here and find inspiration!
codruta
Hi Codruta,
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying and find inspiration from Bread cetera.
The formula above should work just fine using ramps, although you might need to adjust the amount of ramps used in order to give the desired flavor.