This loaf of bread made with russet potatoes is hearty and delicious. It is a moist dough so it needs to be baked in a loaf pan as opposed to being shaped and baked on it's own.
I was inspired to make this bread after reading The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer.......
This book was available to me in audible format from the library Hoopla program. I had finished reading listening to Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe and it popped up in a list of books that they thought I might enjoy based on my previous library picks.
I am so glad that I took them up on the recommendation. This is an historical fiction set in WWII when the Nazi's invaded Poland. However, we start off in modern times, with Alice in a grocery store with her 7 year old son who is on the spectrum. He is having a serious melt down because his go-gurt packaging has changed and Alice helplessly stands by waiting for the tantrum to subside. Alice is in a hurry to get to the bedside of her Babcia (grandmother) who has had a stroke and is in the hospital.
The title of this book is apparent throughout the readings. Alice's son, Eddie, cannot communicate verbally so uses a program on the ipad to make his needs known. Babcia cannot speak since her stroke so she turns to Eddie's ipad to make her wishes known. Babcia cannot understand English since her stroke so Alice turns to the ipad to translate her questions and responses to her Babcia.
Babcia finally makes clear to Alice that she wants her to travel to Poland and search for the people that she left behind. Babcia especially wants Alice to find Thomas which is confusing since Thomas was Alice's Pa (Babcia's husband) who had recently died.
Alice sets off on a discovery of a past of which she had no knowledge and learns that there is much in her Grandmother's history of "Things That We Cannot Say". I loved this story and the people in the story.
It speaks of love during adversity, undying first love, love of family, love of country and love of your fellow man. It speaks of strength when you have everything to lose and strength when you have, in fact, lost everything. It speaks of determination, bravery and tenacity.
There was quite a bit of food mentioned in the book in addition to the go-gurt that started the story off, but the recurring food, during the famine brought on by the German invasion was of the seemingly unending supply of bread and jam that was, somehow, always on the family table.
The bread I made, adapted from Polish Housewife, requires no eggs, no butter, no milk.....just potatoes, yeast, flour and cooking water. I think this is exactly the kind of bread Babcia's mother would have made during the occupation.
Last week turned into a crazy whirlwind with lots of medical emergencies and time spent at the doctors. This week is pretty busy too....with doc follow ups, scheduled medical procedures and the Parish Third Friday Dinner. So here is my Weekly Menu, keeping all of those things in mind. Friday's menu for us is what I'm serving to the parish community as well.
Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the post to find this delicious Polish Potato Bread recipe. I am also sharing this post over at FoodiesRead. Stop by and see what others are reading this month.
Soup Saturday
Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup
Sunday Supper
Grilled Italian Chicken Breasts
Baked Tomatoes
Corn on the Cob
Melted Blueberry Ice Cream Cake
Meatless Monday
Zucchini Fritters
Taco Tuesday
Taco Noodles
Wednesday
Ground Beef Stir Fry
Steamed Brown Rice
Thursday
Out to dinner after Parish Dinner Prep
Friday-Parish Dinner
Cole Slaw
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Corn on the Cob
Mac and Cheese
Cowboy Beans
Peach Crumble with Ice Cream
Yield: 12 servings
Polish Potato Bread
Only 4 ingredients and a little bit of time is all it takes to have this wonderful, tasty bread on your table.
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 3 H & 34 M
Ingredients
- 1 russet potato, about 1/3 lb
- 2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
- 2 2/3 cup flour
- large pinch of salt
Instructions
- Scrub and quarter the potato leaving the skin on. Place in a small pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the potato is easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat and let cool in the cooking water.
- Remove the cooled potato from the water, reserving the water for use in the dough. Slip off the potato peel and rice or mash the potato in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
- Add the yeast, 1 c. of the cooking water, flour and salt to the potoatoes. Mix on low speed until combined and formed into a slightly sticky dough ball. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and let rest for an hour or so, until doubled in size.
- The dough ball will lose it's shape and be very bubbly. Pour this mixture into a loaf pan that has been treated with cooking spray and spread so that the top is flat.
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap that has been treated with cooking spray and let rise for an hour.
- Remove plastic wrap and bake in a preheated 400* oven for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and an internal temperature of 190* is reached.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes:
Adapted from a recipe by Polish Housewife
Nutrition Facts
Calories
117.66Fat (grams)
0.35Sat. Fat (grams)
0.06Carbs (grams)
24.62Fiber (grams)
1.28Net carbs
23.34Sugar (grams)
0.23Protein (grams)
3.56Sodium (milligrams)
13.97Cholesterol (grams)
0.00
Prayers the medical emergencies are not serious. The bread looks delicious and the book looks like a book I would like. Take good care.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. Nothing too terrible. My husband's retina partially detached and we had to get him in for unscheduled surgery to fix it. Our daughter had a bad tooth but it didn't need a root canal as first thought and a friend's blood pressure was very high so I drove her to the ER to be checked out.
DeleteHope everyone is doing alright. Take good care of yourself.
DeleteThe potato bread and book both sound like winners. Will try to get at our library (the book) though often they don't have if it's too new or unknown authors.
ReplyDeleteI think you will have some luck, especially if your library offers audibles by Hoopla.
Delete