So, to tie in with this week's Bread Tip video all about potato, I thought I'd pop in a recipe for one of my favourites. I have been making this one in demonstrations for a LONG TIME, because I like it so much!  

You'll notice at first that the water content is quite low, and your dough might be a little stiff to begin with. But as you knead it the potato will all of a sudden make the dough super sticky! Keep going, and keep your scraper handy to tidy up along the way.

Difficulty: Medium

3 hours

Ingredients

300g Strong white bread flour

75g Wholemeal bread flour

10g Salt

10g Fresh yeast or a 7g sachet of dry fast action yeast

210g Room temperature water

100g Cooked mash potato

1tsp Chopped rosemary leaves

Method

1. Weigh your two flours and salt into a large bowl. Add the rosemary and potato. Weigh the water into a jug. If you are using fresh yeast you'll need to dissolve it into the water before moving on to step 2. If you are using dry yeast, pop it into the flour bowl

2. Pour the liquid into the bowl and mix everything together until it becomes quite a stiff and dry dough, turn it out onto the table

3. Knead the dough on a clean table for 10-12 minutes. There will be a point when it suddenly becomes sticky but don't worry. Keep kneading, without adding flour, until the time is up

4. Shape the dough into a ball, using a light dusting of flour, and place it back into the bowl. Dust again, cover with a clean cloth, and leave to rest at room temperature for 60 minutes

5. When your dough has puffed up nicely, dust the table with a little flour and turn the dough out onto it so it lands upside down. It should come out in a circle shape. The video below will help you to shape it up nicely, and when your done, place it on a parchment lined tray. Allow 30-45 minutes for your shaped dough to prove up under a cloth. In the meantime preheat the oven to 220°C Fan/Gas Mark 8, place a deep roasting tray in the bottom to get nice and hot

6. Just before you are ready to bake, boil half a kettle of water. Hold a pair if scissors at a 45 degree angle and snip the dough all the way round at intervals. Snip each piece and turn it outwards ever so gently. You'll see this part in the video too

7. Slide the tray with the dough on into the oven. Bake it using steam exactly the same as in my Simple Cob Loaf recipe. Pull the hot roasting tray out slightly and pour in the water from the kettle. You'll need a couple of centimetres of water in the tray, then shut the door

8. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Bake for a further 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack