Miss Jo's San Francisco

WHEN MISS JO AND JEFF wanted more ways to cheat the recession, they looked again at what could be crossed off their grocery list.

Jeff already was turning out homemade egg pasta, pizza and vinegar peppers of all kinds, as well as pickled cucumbers and green beans.

A fancy birthday cake baker, he decided to make bread his next kitchen quest, using a stationary mixer and dough hook to  do most of the kneading.

Weekly, Jeff’s been baking two remarkable potato bread loaves. The recipe’s an adaptation of  one in Laurel’s Kitchen’s Bread Book and from start to finish takes seven hours, but most of that involves the dough rising.

Using white whole wheat flour or whole wheat, the bread is light and satisfying with a great bite and thin, crisp crust that makes tasty cinnamon and honey toast; tomato, basil, olive oil and garlic bruschetta; and grilled tomato and Swiss cheese sandwiches.

At this rate, the two Js are saving about $6 a week making their own bread, or $312/year, if you figure in the cost of ingredients. Not a mountain of dough, but enough for a weekend getaway in Mendocino.

RECIPE
6 cups whole wheat flour
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 1/4 cups potato water from boiled potatoes

WHAT TO DO:
Mix flour and salt
Separately, mix oil and honey with warm potato water. Add to flour.

In measuring cup, sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup warm water (not hotter than 105 degrees F.) and gently whisk
in 1 teaspoon sugar and let rest for 10 minutes for yeast to grow

Add yeast mixture to flour and potato water.

With stationary electric mixer and dough hook, knead at lowest setting for roughly 15 minutes, or until ingredients are completely blended— when the hook starts to labor under the weight of the dough. Finish kneading by hand for five minutes.

Place kneaded dough in clean bowl.
Cover with tea towel and let rise for 2.5 hours.

Place dough on counter and burp four times with heals of hands. Return dough to bowl, cover and let rise above rim of bowl, about 1.5 hours. (If slow to rise, give dough another 30 minutes)

Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces, cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Grease 2 loaf pans.
Shape dough into loaves, place in pans, cover and let proof for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Bake loaves 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 325 degrees F. and bake for 1 hour.
Remove loaves from oven and turn them out on wire rack to cool.