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Monday 26 November 2007

My first "Daring Bakers" Challenge: Tender Potato Bread


Everyone who is as addicted to food blogs as I am, must have noticed a new group showing up, many months ago. As the word spread across the food blogging universe, the group began to grow and I secretly started wondering if it were possible to join in. It took a little while but finally Nora from Life's Smorgasbord convinced me that we definitely should become part of The Daring Bakers - and a quick look at their official blogroll proved that they are always happy about new members! While starting off with Yvonne and Lis as the founding members about a year ago, the group now has more than 300 members.

In short: Each month, one member chooses a particular recipe (for its beauty, difficulty or both) and the others have to bake it, too, without changing anything so they can compare and discuss their results afterwards. This is not for the ones who can't leave a recipe alone, I'm afraid. So there are some rules to it but in turn you'll get to extend your baking knowledge plus the wonderful support from all the other bakers. Which is not a small thing considering the elaborateness of some challenges like this or that or have a look at this extravaganza!

This month's challenge was not quite as involved (it can be accomplished in one day) and luckily not as calorie-laden (I'm trying to be good, these days): Our host Tanna had chosen Tender Potato Bread. Having baked my fair share of breads in the last two years, I tackled this challenge with some confidence and everything worked out pretty well. Usually, I'm only baking for two people so I halved the recipe as I didn't want to end up with bread going stale (I hope that's not against the rules??). Apart from that, I behaved like a good girl and followed the recipe to the t. In contrast to other challenges this recipe had some room for improvisation, though. The amounts of mashed potato and flour were flexible and I ended up using 290g of potatoe (weighed before cooking) and a little bit less than 500g of bread flour (including the flour for kneading).

In between the kneading phase of ten minutes I decided to give the dough a little rest of 15 minutes so the gluten strands could relax and after that, I didn't have any trouble with the formerly rather sticky dough. "Unleashing my inner baker" I made potato bread pockets with a spinach and feta filling for dinner, and the remaining dough simply got baked in a loaf pan. There's no exact recipe for the filling (I'm so daring...), I just sauteed onions and garlic until translucent, stirred in some spinach, added a splash of milk, and some salt/pepper/nutmeg. Once the filling was cooked, I stirred in a few spoons of sour cream and a leftover eggwhite (hoping that it would solidify the filling but I'm not sure if it really made a difference). I topped the filling with feta chunks - and that's about it!

I really enjoyed this challenge and already look forward to participating next month!

37 comments:

Katie said...

Congratulations on your first challange. Your bread looks fantastic. I especially love the idea of the feta and spinach pockets - well done!

ostwestwind said...

You did a great job.
The recipe is great, although I had to adapt it - with permission - to the German flour. This recipe is definitively a keeper.

Nora B. said...

Hi Eva,
You are so daring...! I love the stuffing you made. It looks so yummy. I'll try that for next time. And I see beetroot in the front there :-)

We are lucky that our first challenge was bread... I wonder what next month's challenge will be...

Nora

Anonymous said...

Wow, das gefüllte Brot sieht superlecker aus!

Anonymous said...

Love the look of the bread pockets, particularly the filling to bread ratio :)

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Oh Eva- pure genius! I love of making spinach and feta pockets. Also congrats on an awesome first challenge.

Anh said...

Eva, I knew you would do an excellent job! And you did! :) Congrat on the first challenge!

Bev and Ollie "O" said...

your bread looks so good!
It was my first challange too, wasn't it fun??

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Your breads look wonderful! I particularly like those pockets! I bet they taste really good! Well done!

Cheers,

Rosa

Katy said...

Yum! I joined Daring Bakers at the very beginning of November, so I missed this one, but I am so excited to participate in December! Although, actually, I am quite sad for missing this one -- it looks right up my alley!

Helene said...

Congratulations on your first challenge! I knew you would have fun with this one, and the spinach and feta pockets look delicious! Welcome aboard!

breadchick said...

The potato bread pockets look yummy. Welcome aboard and great job on your first challenge!

Warda said...

Gorgeous bread Eva. It almost look like a cake. Nice to have you joined the daring bakers.

Anonymous said...

Your loaf looks lovely! I, too, am already looking forward to the next challenge :)

bee said...

eva, there's something - three things actually - waiting for you at jugalbandi.

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Excellent job with your first challenge, Eva! Your bread looks beautiful, particularly the stuffed one. Delicious!

Julius said...

You have a *gorgeous* blog.

That filled bread is absolutely mouth watering. Congrats on your first challenge.

:)

Julius from Occasional Baker

Eva said...

Thank you, Katie! I could hardly wait for my first challenge to start!

Ostwestwind - I think I'll make it again, too!

Nora - I liked the spinach but T would have preferred your meat filling..;-) I'm already so curious about the next challenge, too!

Dankeschoen, Zorra!

Y - we have the same preferences..;-)

Cheers, Meeta, I'm so happy to finally be part of the Daring Bakers!

Thank you, Anh! Glad not to have disappointed you..;-)

Thanks, Rosa, it was really nice break from our usual dinner routine!

Katy - That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw your sage bread!

Tartelette - after seeing your wonderful DB concoction month after month, I simply had to join in!

Thanks Breadchick! Hope I'll have enough time to check out all the other DB entries!

Rose - You're right, I thought that, too. This bread really is tender!

Shawnda - I just had a look at your entry, the rolls are wonderful!

Bee - I'm so thrilled!!!

Thanks, Lynn, I really appreciate that!

Thanks, Julius, and a warm welcome to Sweet Sins!

Peabody said...

Spinach and feta...yum. I bet that made for some great dinner.
Excellent job on your first challenge.

Nora B. said...

Hi Eva,
CONGRATS for your three awards for Nov's Click competition!!!I knew that that photo was a winner :-) Hoo-raay!!!

x nora

Gretchen Noelle said...

Those spinach pockets look so tasty!!! Wish I could try them! Great job! Congrats on your first DB challenge!

Anonymous said...

Yay for your first challenge. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on completing your first challenge! You did a great job!

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a fabulous job on your bread. Welcome to the DBers!

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Christine said...

Welcome to the DBers!

Your filled pockets reminds me of spanakopita! Very delicious and a great idea.

Christina ~ She Runs, She Eats

Brilynn said...

Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Well done on your first challenge, the stuffing looks wonderful!

April said...

Congrats on completing your first challenge!! I love the stuffed bread!

Jen Yu said...

I love the stuffed pockets! I think I ought to give that a try because I am such a nut about stuffed breads :) Your loaf and pockets are beautiful and tantalizingly yummy. Awesome!

-jen at use real butter

fanny said...

Your breads look delicious. Spinach and feta is a great reliable combo. Looove it.

xxx
- fanny

Deborah said...

Wonderful job on this challenge!! I'm excited to see what you do in future challenges!

monica said...

congrats on your first challenge and welcome! your bread looks absolutely amazing. i am craving the spinach filling right now!

Julie said...

Your loaf is lovely, but your pockets look divine! I love how thin its crust is, and I can imagine how delicious it tasted. Great shot, and great job on your first challenge!

Fruit tart said...

The bread looks great but the pockets . . . I want one of those! Yum!

desie said...

great idea with the bread pocket.
wonderful photos.

Dolores said...

Congratulations and welcome. You've baked some beautiful bread!

Eva said...

Thanks so much, guys, for dropping by! I didn't expect such a warm welcome from all the DB-people!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

And I'm really late here!
I love your spinach filling! So glad you enjoyed this one and so happy you've joined the group! Welcome.