I’ll tell you below why I find the similarity to a bad boyfriend- but in the meantime here we are with another installment of the Daring Bakers Challenge. This is number three for me and this time the challenge is being hosted by the lovely and talented Tanna at My Kitchen in Half Cups. She gave us the challenge of a Potato Bread recipe  (follow link for recipe) and  wrote this challenge: “Being a Daring Baker is about trying new recipes, techniques and taking risks. It’s reaching just beyond your comfort zone.
This is a Daring Baker Challenge, not a contest and not a competition because at its heart and soul is support and sharing the how to of the baking we do. “

 

My recipe notes: Although my bread turned out fine I had a moments when I cursed it in frustration -like a bad boyfriend- because it was clingy and when I wanted it to support itself it was lying about, it was slack- the longer it sat -the lazier it got- and I couldn’t get it off my hands…. it was Tar-Baby dough (although I used the full 8.5 cups of King Arthur Organic Artisan unbleached All Purpose Flour.) After a brief tantrum and an attitude adjustment and a small amount of perseverance I worked it all out and sent it on its way.

If I had been free to change the directions I would have kneaded by hand for way longer than 11 minutes and probably used more flour or less liquid. I feel it needed extra gluten development time because it has a large liquid to flour ratio and the potatoes retard the gluten development further. However it is a nice bread for toast and it tasted good warm and slathered with butter and honey. It has a good flavor and a fine moist crumb with a crispy crust.

I made one large loaf and six “Bierock” type “Inside-out Turkey Stuffing Rolls” with the remainder. I found a neat trick for filling the buns in my  “America’s Best Lost Recipes” cookbook by the editors of Cook’s Country Magazine. You roll the dough out to a round and then place it in a small bowl, put the filling on top and pinch the dough up around the filling- it works great! I could have put much more filling inside as the picture shows, but they were extremely tasty anyway.

I think the dough is a little too crusty for this style of bun though and will probably use a sweet milk dough the next time I make the rolls. The potato dough would make good crusty dinner rolls or Focaccia.

Filling for “Inside-Out Turkey Stuffing Rolls”

• 1lb bulk breakfast sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 cup cooked turkey, white and dark meat, shredded
• 2 Ambrosia or similar Apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3/4 cup skinned, roasted hazelnuts chopped
• 1/2 cup pine-nuts
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• pinch of dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Brown the sausage and add the remaining ingredients except the nuts. Cook until brown and fragrant. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Add the nuts and cook a little to incorporate. Cool on a sheet pan before using as stuffing for bread dough. ——

-This is what I use for turkey stuffing- add all to a large loaf and a half of good quality bread (the potato bread would be good for this!) that has been cubed and allowed to dry out a day or two, use turkey broth and butter to bind and moisten it fairly well before baking it in a pan for about an hour at 350F or stuffing into a Turkey.