10/9/2010 - Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedos

If we didn't find the cheese bread we were looking for in the roasted onion and asiago miche, we found it here. This is another mixed method bread, incorporating sourdough barm and spiked with commercial yeast, and it is a quick and easy one day formula.

I chopped and boiled a couple of potatoes, and set out a cup and a half of barm to warm to room temperature. I reserved the potato water, since it is used for the water in this formula. An hour later, I began mixing the dough. For this formula, half of the flour, the yeast, potatoes, and half of the water are mixed and then left uncovered for 30 minutes. Then the remaining water and salt are added. Chopped fresh chives are added during kneading, and then the dough is left to rise. Once my dough was doubled, I divided it in two and flattened each piece into a rectangle. I laid slices of cheddar cheese on the dough and then rolled it up, jelly-roll style, and laid the loaves on a sheet pan. They proofed for about an hour and then I scored them and baked them hearth style.

This bread was excellent. It gives me a good reason to keep a sourdough barm in my fridge. And I am becoming much more comfortable with the barm, so I find that idea less daunting. I would change two things next time. First, I think I will mash the potatoes rather than leaving them in chunks. Second, I want to try to have the cheese reach further into the ends of the bread.