Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Tuesdays with Dorie - Rustic Potato Loaves


Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie group are Rustic Potato Loaves. The recipe for this fabulous bread was contributed by baker Leslie Mackie.




The ingredients for these loaves are plain flour (I substituted part of the plain flour with whole wheat flour), and cooked russet potatoes (I made the dough sans potato skins)...




…as well as active dry yeast, a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, some salt and a bit of reserved potato water.

I took the liberty of shaping the bread a bit differently, not a long loaf but rather a chunky, round loaf this time.The whole wheat flour made the dough darker than it was in the picture of the original recipe but we liked it that way and since I bought so much flour at the artisinal flour mill a few weeks ago, I felt that I should use a mix of their wonderful flours instead of going for all purpose white flour as stated in the recipe.




I use cooked, mashed or riced potatoes in many of my recipes, for cakes as well as breads and focaccias - I even did a small blog series on that in February and March of this year featuring a Potato-Lemon Cake (with mashed potatoes), a Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf  and a Potato Crumb Cake (both with riced potatoes). I am always amazed at how wonderful everything turns out - just like this fantastic bread - it has a nice, moist crumb and a delicious and rather photogenic, rustic crust. Just right!




Since we are still in the middle of the two-week, no-school Easter vacation around here, we took the kids on a day trip to the wonderful Town of Monschau or Montjoie (since the town is located in an area of Europe where Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg meet, it was also given a French name). The town itself is located in the west of Germany, in the district of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), North Rhine-Westphalia.

The historic town center where vehicles are generally prohibited on town streets, has many preserved half-timbered houses, gray slate bridges, a mustard mill and flower-decked market square and its narrow streets have remained nearly unchanged for about 300 years, making the town a very popular tourist attraction nowadays. Historically the main industry of the town were cloth-mills.




On the heights above the city is Monschau Castle or Le château de Montjoie, which dates back to the 13th century - the first mention of Monschau was made in 1198. There is actually a Youth Hostel located in the castle itself and its grey stones makes the perfect backdrop for the summer concerts and operas held here.

Guests at the castle feel transported back to the times of the knights and great lords and during their stay and enjoy a rather unique view on the idyllic old town of Monschau with its many winding medieval alleys.




Part of our picnic in Monschau today was one of these wonderful Rustic Potato Loaves, we really enjoyed this bread - and while it was just perfect for a lunch outdoors, it is certainly a versatile bread to be enjoyed as sandwich bread or even toasted the next day.

To see how the other Doristas fared with this recipe, please do click here.

The recipe can be found at Dawn´s blog - Simply Sweet - "Thank you for hosting today´s recipe, Dawn"!


For more information on the Town of Monschau/Montjoie and/or the Monschau Castle, please click:

Town of Monschau
Youth Hostel located in Monschau Castle



39 comments:

  1. Delicious. I love freshly baked bread and this looks so wholesome. And the backdrop couldn't be more beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it all with us!

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    1. Monet, thank you very much for your comment - the recipe for the bread was just wonderful, a bread we all enjoyed very much and a rustice loaf like this felt like the perfect bread to enjoy while visiting this marvelous medieval town.

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  2. Oh, Andrea, I love it when you take your TwD and FFwD on location! It looks like you had a beautiful day and a perfect backdrop in which to eat your lovely rustic bread. I think I would like to try it with whole wheat flour next time - the color of your loaves is so rich. Have a great week!

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    1. Thank you, Elaine, it was a wonderful day (just got lucky with the sunshine) and we enjoyed this moist and crusty, rustic bread in a fabulous location.

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  3. What a fabulous backdrop for your wonderful looking bread! We may be visiting Germany anbd Switzerland later this year, I can't wait!

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    1. Thank you very much, just make sure that if and when you visit Germany later this year, to let me know where you are planning to go so that I can provide you with some wonderful addresses of "must-see" places.

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  4. Andrea, thanks for letting us visit Monschau along with you. Looks like a beautiful place, one we unfortunately never had a chance to visit. Perhaps on our next trip. Your bread looks amazing. Wish we could have a piece. We lacked the time to develop our gf version more fully, and as a result it is still a work in progress. Loved reading your post. Beautiful photography as always. Hope your trip is going well.

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    1. Inge and Gillian: thank you so much for the nice comment - Monschau is such a pretty place and it is only about an hour and a half by car from where we live but it was actually my first time there - we will definitely visit again this year! Looking forward to your gf version!

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  5. The potato bread looks wonderful. I so enjoyed the visit to Monschau - would a lovely place!
    Mary x

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    1. Thank you very much, Mary! The potato bread was nice, such a wonderful recipe from Leslie Mackie.

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  6. Your bread looks fantastic. I must try it with whole wheat. I love the darker loaf. I agree about baking with potatoes...everything seems so good.
    Your pics are wonderful. I enjoyed your post very much!

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    1. Sandra, thank you - the whole wheat version looked so nice and rustic and it tasted pretty good - I am trying to incorporate more whole wheat flour in my baking - I discovered this fantstic artisanal flour mill and they carry the best whole wheat flour - so I am looking for more recipes like this where the plain flour can easily be substitued with whole wheat flour.

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  7. Oh Andrea, I would love to go picnic at Monschau and take your potato bread. I absolutely love that you made a rustic boule! So gorgeous!

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    1. Paula, if and when you get a chance to visit, I will make sure to bake a (whole wheat) potato bread and pack it for a picnic at the lovely town of Monschau!

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  8. Andrea, your pictures are gorgeous as usual! Thank you for sharing photos of your visit in Monschau. I'm delighted to hear that the bread is delicious with the substitution of whole wheat flour and look forward to reading your blog posts about using potatoes in cakes. Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation!

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    1. Thanks for the comment - I hope you will get a chance to look at the other posts in my small series - it is amazing how many wonderful cake recipe there are for baking cakes with potatoes.

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  9. Next time, I will use some whole wheat flour, too! Your loaves look so statuesque compared to mine! Lovely! PS...great photos from your day trip. I think Germany is next on our overseas bucket list...but probably not for a couple years! I should be taking notes :)

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    1. Liz, thanks so much - I am sure that if you get a chance to visit Germany, Monschau is one of those places that you and your family would really enjoy. Most of the buildings are actually more than 300 years old and the whole scenery is breathtaking.

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  10. Oh my - your pictures are incredible as usual. What a lovely trip you had! Our friend's son spent many years in Germany in his college years, now I can see why. So beautiful!

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    1. Kristin, thank you - yes, there are some very beautiful, must visit places around here and it was nice to feast our eyes on the Town of Monschau and the landscape surrounding it.

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  11. Such a beautiful place to enjoy the potato bread! The castle looks stunning and so does your potato bread. Happy holidays!

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  12. Oh, I love, love, love it when you intertwine your food posts with such beautiful historic settings. After seeing your posts, I like to Google the places you mention and learn more about them. It's something I look forward to :-)

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    1. And... I didn't realize that this was in/ near the Eifel Park which has come up in a couple of books that I have read lately. Your post helped provide me with a lovely visual that helped bring it all to life for me.

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    2. Cher, thank you so much, I really appreciate your kind comments - I must say that it really makes me happy that you enjoy my posts when I take my food with me to places that we love and enjoy to visit. Those are the posts that are often closest to my heart.

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  13. Andrea,
    First of all thanks for the very kind comment you left at The Café. It's so nice to meet you and I've loved taking a peek at your blog. It's very charming and pretty and fun! My heritage is German and I grew up in a German-American community in Wisconsin so I'm drawn to all your delightful pictures of Germany. My daughter spent a year as an exchange student in Giessen, just north of Frankfurt. We visited her there and spent some time traveling through Germany. We LOVED it! I speak a small spattering of German so it was really fun to find our way around. Again, nice to meet you and I'll look forward to getting to know you more in the days ahead, Auf wiedersehen! Chris
    ps I'm sure you will get a kick out of this blog post: :)
    http://www.thecafesucrefarine.com/2011/08/plum-raspberry-kuchen.html

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    1. Chris, thank you so much for visiting and writing such a wonderful comment! I am sure that I will enjoy all of your blog posts and return for many visits - I will most definitely take a look at the Plum-Raspberry-Kuchen! "See" you soon!

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  14. Andrea, the Town of Monschau (Montjoie)looks like a wonderful place to visit. This my sister I'm sure would love. If only I liked to fly, I would be there in a heartbeat! Your loaf looks wonderful and I like your more rounded loaf as opposed to my "lean" football shape. Please don't apologize for not visiting my blog more. I do not expect anyone to look at every post I publish. Have a wonderful weekend Andrea.

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    1. Cathleen, the Town of Monschau is a must-visit place if you happen to be in the area - it does have quite a unique medieval charm to it. Now if only you would like to fly. Thanks for the comments!

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  15. Beautiful bread and beautiful photos!!
    I missed this one, I turned the calendar page and was too late. But this bread looks delicious, can't wait to make it.

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    1. Cindy, I am sure that you will adore the ease and taste of this rustic potato loaf - it is not difficult to bake, it looks wonderful and it tastes even better.

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  16. What a lovely load of bread and a wonderful Post to show it off. I'm sure your whole family enjoyed the day trip and.....the picnic. Nice to have a Mom who always puts together a good lunch for on-the-road.

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    1. Thanky you, Mary - you know how it is, a two-week vacation, kids to entertain, places to visit - so what better way than to combine a nice picnic on the only sunny day we had during Easter break, with a lovely tour of a old Town that is as pretty as a picture book.

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  17. I want to eat this rustic potato loaf (looks so good!!) and visit this place. Such a beautiful castle! My Japanese friend who married to a Belgian is moving from here to Belgium this summer. I really hope to visit them and see beautiful places like this...

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    1. Nami, this rustic potato loaf was indeed delicious. If and when you make it to EU/Belgium and visit some traditional towns and special places, I am sure that you will be utterly delighted.

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  18. Your bread looks perfect for a picnic in a historic location. We made the recipe as written this time, but I'm looking forward to using more interesting flours for this bread in future.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words - I just had so many different kinds of flour in my pantry, I guess, I just went a little bit overboard at the artisanal flour mill, that I justt felt that I should use a flour other than the regular plain flour that the original recipe calls for.

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  19. What a beautiful place to have a picnic. Such a rustic place to enjoy a beautiful rustic bread. Lovely photos. One area of Germany we did not make it to.

    I like the idea of subbing WWF for some of the white flour

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    1. Thank you very much - the Town of Monschau is such a lovely place to visit and have a picnic at. Hopefully, the weather will be a bit less on the frosty side next time we decide to have a luncheon outside there at the foot of the wonderful Monschau Castle!

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