“Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread. Without it, it’s flat.”
Carmen McRae
Crispy on the outside with a soft moist interior. Wow, our assignment this month was a big winner! Our June Rose’s Bread Bible Bakers assignment was for a fantastic Potato Buttermilk Bread. It was similar to the Olive bread we made a few months back in that it uses a biga or starter so you’ll want to allow plenty of fermentation time for full flavor development. The addition of buttermilk and potato flour gave this loaf a nuanced, but lovely flavor and tenderness. Rose warns in her introduction to the recipe that the potato flour promotes a very brown crust, and it certainly does. Watch this one carefully while it’s in the oven.
As with the Olive bread mentioned above, I used the King Arthur Flour Artisan Bread Flour with outstanding results as usual. I also tried their dried buttermilk powder for the first time which worked well, and I believe I will buy more once I use this up as it is much more convenient than having to go to the store for buttermilk since it isn’t a staple in my refrigerator. For the potato flour, I picked up a bag from Bob’s Red Mill at my local Whole Foods.
Since I had not baked this bread before, followed all of the directions to the letter until it was time to bake the bread. I always love using the La Cloche for the artisan-type free form breads. For some reason, I forgot to put the bread on the La Cloche base, and placed it directly on the hot baking stone that I had preheated with the dome. As a result, I did have a bit of scorching on the bottom of the loaf, but it still turned out fantastic. I baked the loaf under the dome for 25 minutes after lowering the temperature, and had I left it any longer I believe it really would have burned.
By the way, this bread used a good bit of vital wheat gluten which I suspect is essential. My doughs typically rise in far less than the suggested time. If a recipe says allow 1-1/2 hours, mine is often ready in 45 to 60 minutes. Not so with the first rise on this one. It took the full recommended time for the first rise, but the second rise did happen a little more quickly.
If you follow my bread posts, you’ll know that any bread I make is likely to end up in a sandwich, and this one was no exception. In addition to the ham sandwich shown, it made a fantastic grilled cheese. Rose says that this bread does not freeze well and is best eaten within a day. I recently got a new bread keeper from King Arthur, and it has done a stellar job keeping this bread fresh for two days so far. I’m confident that this tasty bread will be gobbled up before it has a chance to go bad.
If you’re interested in trying the recipe, you can find it here. You won’t be disappointed. Let me know if you try it.
Livin' the Life in LA 
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