Rustic Potato Bread

For my fabulous Super Bowl Party I made the most delicious hors d’oeuvres ever, Sausage Stuffing Balls! The post for this recipe will be coming soon, but unfortunately I only got two pictures of the dish while cooking it at the party, therefore I have to make it again before I can post it!  Not going to lie that I’m actually not disappointed about this at all because they were so marvelous!

The two main ingredients for the dish: sausage and potato bread.  The first time around I bought a loaf of potato bread at the store, but because my Rosemary Focaccia Bread came out so amazingly I have been on a serious bread kick!  Thus, I made my own potato bread for the sausage stuffing balls!

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves)

• 1 large baking potato
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/4 oz packages active yeast
• 6 cups flour (divided)
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp shortening

Start by peeling and chopping the potato into cubes.

Next, bring 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Add the cubed potatoes to the water/milk mixture.

Boil uncovered for 13-15 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

After the potatoes are cooked, remove the pan from the heat but do NOT drain the potatoes.  After they have cooled down to a warm, but no longer boiling hot temperature, measure out 1/2 cup of the liquid.

Place the 1/2 cup of liquid in a large mixing bowl and pour the yeast on top.

Next, mash the remaining liquid into the potatoes.

Add the mashed potatoes to the yeast mixture.

Next, add 2 cups of flour.

Then add the sugar, salt and shortening.

Beat with an electric mixer on high for 2 minutes.

Next, stir in the remaining 4 cups of flour by hand.

When well combined, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.

Next, place the dough in a large oiled bowl and turn to oil each side.

Then cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap.

Let rise for one hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Next remove the dough from the bowl, punch down and separate into two equal loaves.  Place each loaf in a loaf pan or shape into a loaf and place on a baking stone (I did one of each just to see how they would turn out!)

Cover again and allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 375°.

For the final step, remove the cover and place the bread in the oven for 40 minutes.

Oh yum!  Look at those perfectly baked loaves!

Oh yeah, time to cut in!

This bread is thick and dense!  It would make for a delicious side dipped into soup or a thick and hearty sandwich or turn it into my yummy Loaded Baked Potato Bread!

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.