By I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 81-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.
Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made chili three ways earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.
January. The real winter. Dark and cold, the wind off the prairie personal in its grudge. We endure with soup and blankets and the belief that spring comes eventually. I made bread — sourdough from the starter named Marlene, the bread rising in a warm kitchen while Iowa does its worst outside.
That Saturday with Roger, watching him move slow and deliberate between his tomato plants, and then the January dark pressing in all week — by the time I got back to my own kitchen, I needed something that took time and asked something of me. I’d been baking sourdough from Marlene, yes, but some weeks call for a different kind of loaf: softer, more forgiving, the kind that fills the house with warmth while the wind off the prairie does its worst. This potato bread has become that loaf for me — it rises beautifully in a warm kitchen, slices clean for sandwiches or toast, and tastes like the sort of thing someone who loved you made on purpose.
Best Potato Bread
Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 2 hr 30 min (includes rise time) | Servings: 16 slices
Ingredients
- 1 medium russet potato (about 8 oz), peeled and cubed
- 1 cup reserved potato cooking water, cooled to lukewarm
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one standard packet)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 1 tbsp milk or melted butter, for brushing
Instructions
- Cook the potato. Boil the cubed potato in lightly salted water until very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Mash the potato until completely smooth with no lumps — about 3/4 cup mashed. Set aside to cool.
- Activate the yeast. In a large bowl, combine the lukewarm potato water, sugar, and yeast. Stir gently and let stand 5–10 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, your yeast may be old — start again with a fresh packet.
- Build the dough. Add the mashed potato, salt, softened butter, and beaten egg to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Knead. Knead the dough for 8–10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until smooth, soft, and slightly tacky but not sticky. The potato keeps this dough tender, so resist adding too much flour.
- First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
- Shape the loaf. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a tight oval and place in a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan, seam side down.
- Second rise. Cover loosely and let rise again for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the dough crowns about 1 inch above the pan rim.
- Bake. Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush the top of the loaf with milk or melted butter. Bake 28–32 minutes, until deep golden brown on top and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Internal temperature should reach 190°F.
- Cool. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool at least 30 minutes before slicing — the crumb needs time to set.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 145 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 220mg