Potato Bread

Ingredients

• five op six boiled potatoes
• a teacupful of flour
• a quart of boiling water
• a cup nearly full of yeast

Method

1. 1

   Mash the potatoes very fine, stir in the flour, and pour on the boiling water.

2. 2

   Then add the yeast and set the ferment in a warm place until night.

3. 3

   Set a soft sponge with warm water and flour, adding the ferment.

4. 4

   It will be ready to mold into loaves in the morning.

5. 5

   Let it rise until light, then mold it out and bake.

Nutrition per serving

As published

This recipe was extracted from La cuisine creole (1885) by Lafcadio Hearn, page 50. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

ive op six boiled po- tatoes, mash them very fine, stir in a teacupf ul of flour, and pour on a quart of boiling water ; then put in a cup nearly f ull of yeast, and set the ferment in a warm place till night ; then set a soft sponge, with warm water and flour, adding the ferment ; it will be ready to mould up hard the first thing in the moming. Let it pîse till quite light, then mould it out in loaves, rîse again, and bake in the usual way. The sponge should not be set near the stove. The superiop qualities of this yeast are shown by the fact that you never use saleratus in the bread, and 122 LA CUISINE CREOLE. it never sours. If the directions are f ollowed, with good flour, you may be sure of sweet light bread every time. MISS BEECHEE^S POTATO YEAST. Mash six boiled potatoes, mix in half a cofifeecup of flour, two teaspoonfuls of sait, and add hot water until it is a batter ; beat ail well together. When it is blood- warm add to it one-half cup of brewers' yeast, or a whole cup of home-brewed yeast. When this is light, put it in a bottle, and cork it tight for use. Keep it as cool as possible. ANOTHEE POTATO YEAST WITHOUT HOPS. Boil and mash sufficient potatoes to fill a pint cup ; add to them a pint of water, boil them together, stir in flour enough to form a thick batter, and when cool, add a yeast cake, or a cup of good yeast. Bottle and put away in a cool place. YEAST WITH HOPS. Peel and boil eight large Irish potatoes. Boil a hand- f ul of hops in a little water, or in the water the potatoes were boiled in; mash the potatoes fine, and strain the water f rom the hops over them. Put in a cup of flour ta the potatoes before the water is poured on, as it mixes better when dry ; mix ail together and beat it, then put in half a cup of good yeast, or a yeast cake. This wîU keep good for a week if kept cool. LA CUISINE CREOLE. 123 HOME-MADB YBAST. Boil one pound of good flour, one-quarter of a pound of good sugar, and a tablespoonf ul of sait in two gallons of water. Boil for two hours, and bottle it for use. Thîs will do if you are where you cannot get bakers' yeast, or turnpike cakes to start your yeast, but is not always reliable. SALT EISING YBAST. Take a pint of new milk^ warm from the eow if pos- sible. Put in a teasi)oonf ul of sait, and thicken it with flour to the consistency of batter cakes. Set this in a warm place to rise, and make your biscuit op bread up with it, and some new milk, or milk and water warmed together. SALT^ OE MILK^ RISING FOE BEEAD^ AND HOW TO BAKB IT. Take a pint of new milk, stir in nearly a pint of boiling water, then sait it with a teaspoonf ul of fine sait ; thicken this with flour enough to make a thick batter. Set it in a warm place to rise, and it is ready to mix into bread. Mix the yeast in a soft dough with fine fiour, a little lard, and a cup of water ; mould it, and set it to rise. When well risen, bake it a nice brown. Wrap it in a damp cloth for a few minutes, and let it cool slowly before it is eut. This is a good bread for a délicate stomach, which is sometimes painf uUy aflfected by hop-yeast bread. HAED FIG-LBAF YBAST MADB WITHOUT HOPS. During the w|ir we could get no hops, and f ound that fig-leaves were a good substitute. To Make Fig-Leaf Yeast. — Take a pint cup of the leaves, put them to a 124 LA CUISINE CREOLE. quart of cold water, and boîl them untîl a strong tea or décoction is made — this is to be put away to cool ; then pour off the tea carefully, leavîng the dregs and leaves. Now boil and wash Irish potatoes enough to fill a pint- cup, put them to the tea of fig-leaves, beat them up with a tablespoonful of brown sugar and flour, to make a stifif batter, and put it in a covered vessel to rise. When this yeast is light and frothing, thicken ît immediately (ad keeping too long injures it) with corn-meal, until ît is thick enough to be rolled out like biscuit. Roll it ont, eut and dry the cakes, tuming them very often until dry. This will be a supply of yeast for several months. When you wish to make bread, take one of the cakes in the morning, put it in a covered mug or pitcher; put on it a cup of cold water, and when it is dissolved, put to it a spoonf ul of brown sugar, and make a batter of the watef and yeast cake. Make this batter as stiflf as pound-cake batter, and when it rises well, mix with two quarts of flour, and the bread will be most excellent, if carefuUy made according to thèse directions. Use lard as nsual in making the bread up for baking. TO MAKE A LOAF OF GOOD BREAD. One large spoonf ul of hop yeast, or a yeast cake ; put this to a pint of water, mash to this two Irish potatoes, and stir ail together. Sif t in flour until you hâve a stifif batter, and set it to rise. When it is very light, stir in a spoonful of lard, and enough flour to enable you to mould it into a loaf . When moulded, grease the top, and set it to rise again. If really light, you can now bake it ; but if not, work it down again, and momld it over and let it rise again. This is made plain and definite, for nothing is more discouraging for a young housekeeper LA CUISINE CREOLE. 125 than to f eel that she really tried, and yet could not mske good bread. This is in such small quantities that a young person could try it, without f eeling that she was wasting much, if she does not succeed the first time. Any one who tries this simple recipe will hâve the pleas- ure of presenting a niée loaf of bread to her f amily. TO MAKB GOOD BBEAD. Make a pint of meal into mush^ then pour it on to two quarts of fiour; when cool, add a little sait and warm water, or milk, and a cup of yeast ; work it with a spoon, and set it by to rise until moming. Knead it well ; yes, very well, and make it into loaves ; place in the pan, and when light, bake it. Add a little lard, if liked. A VEEY NICE POTATO BEEAD

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.