Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hungarian Potato Bread with Caraway Seeds


Talk about nose! This bread sure has it. The bread is moist and heavy in texture, perfect for dunking into soup or stews. Its flavor improves with age and its tight texture makes for great toast. It cries for a great hunk of cheese to keep it company on the bread board. Its simple to make, though it does require some kneading. A great recipe to have on file for cold winter nights and soup suppers.

Hungarian Potato Bread with Caraway Seeds

Ingredients:
1 scant tablespoon active dry yeast
2-1/2 cups warm water, divided use
7-1/2 to 8 cups all-purpose flour + flour for kneading and dusting
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes

Directions:
1) Take off your rings. Place 1/2 cup water in a large bowl; add yeast and 3 tablespoons flour; whisk to combine. Let sit for 30 minutes. Add remaining 2 cups warm water. Stir in salt and caraway seeds. Add 4 cups all-purpose flour and beat for about 100 strokes with a wooden spoon, or until mixture sheets on spoon. Stir in remainder of flour and mashed potatoes; mix well using a spoon or hands. Turn onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as needed, for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is really elastic. Shape into a ball. Oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat all surfaces with oil. Let rise until double in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. Punch down and knead for about 5 minutes. Shape into a round loaf; place in a greased 12-inch ovenproof skillet and let rise for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
2) Move a rack to middle third of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush surface of loaf with water; use a razor to cut a 1/2-inch deep cross on the surface of loaf. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until brown and top sounds hollow when thumped. Dust top of bread with flour. Cool on a rack. Yield: 1 large loaf.

I'm sending this recipe to Susan at Wild Yeast who sponsors Yeast Spotting.

22 comments :

Anonymous said...

Baking our own bread is in one of my 'to-do' things to learn this year. So meanwhile, I am drooling over your bread and your descriptions :)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Oh my yes Mary give me potato bread. I think it's pretty good even if the potatoes have roasted garlic in them too ;)
Beautiful loaf.

Hootin Anni said...

Looks so goooooood!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh.. this is a lovely recipe. i have got into baking breads now & really nothing beats the wafting smell of freshly baked bread around the house.

Allie said...

It looks wonderful! I've got it printed so I can try it. I love the smell of bread baking!

Maria said...

Gorgeous bread! It really is an art to make bread!! Nice job!

Pam said...

I really need to make more bread. This looks AMAZING!

Unknown said...

i wish i can slice that beautiful bread of yours right now... i would really love a bite... :)

Martha said...

I don't make bread enough and this looks yummy. I am always eager each morning to see what you feature. They're always winners.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Martha et all...thank you. Come on by for soup, cheese and bread!

The Blonde Duck said...

It looks so thick and tasty...

Mary Bergfeld said...

Hi BD....this is not a ladylike bread! It's really hearty.

Cathy said...

This is the perfect bread to serve with your goulash. Can't wait to make both this weekend. Love those caraway seeds.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Cathy, they are always a matched pair in out house. Can't have one without the other.

Peter M said...

I love caraway bread and this loaf looks wonderful. I made my first bread on my own yesterday so this stuff really interests me now.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Peter, this a true peasant bread. I think you'll enjoy it. It has no finesse at all:); just flavor and an aroma that will make your socks go up and down. Isn't that first loaf of self-made bread a high?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful loaf, and I love that you remind us to take off our rings :)

redforever said...

I finally got around to making this bread today:))))

I made half the recipe as I was not sure my husband and I could handle that amount of bread. I also soaked the caraway seeds with the yeast mixture for 30 minutes. We like the taste of caraway and that intensified the flavor.

It turned out perfectly.

Thx for a great recipe.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Redforever, I'm so glad you enjoyed the bread. It is one of my personal favorites. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

J.Szombathy said...

I am baking this bread now... unfortunately I am not a bread baker but I am trying to learn. At this point the bread is in the oven and it is mushroomed. Not sure what I did wrong? Any suggestions?

Mary Bergfeld said...

J. the bread will rise in the oven. Because I can't see what you are looking at I can't be more reassuring than that. Typically the bread will expand and sometimes crack along the sides. I think you'll be OK. I'm rooting for you :-). If you used the correct amount of yeast I don't think there will be a problem. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary

J. Szombathy said...

Just decided to make this again! I have made this recipe several times and my family LOVES it! It has been a wonderful bread to learn how to make. My husbands family is from Hungary, this past year we have been cooking a lot and revisiting old family recipes. This one seems to always come up. Thank you for posting this!!!!!

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