By Laura Killingbeck

One of the awesome things about potatoes is that they are durable as heck. That’s right. Stick a storage potato in a fridge or root cellar, and you can forget that sucker for months with no consequences. Potatoes are little miracles of starchy hibernation. This Fall we stuck a whole lot of these durable hibernators in the walk-in cooler, and have been eating them all Winter. They show up at breakfast as home fries or quiche crusts; at lunch as spiced wedges or fritters; at dinner in soups and casseroles. And thanks to Benoit’s bread making prowess, we also now eat potatoes in sandwich bread! Potato bread has a soft, tight crumb, which makes it great for sandwiches and toast. Recently I decided to heckle Benoit while he made this bread. It was very fun for me. I sat across from him at the table while he mixed dough, and I took endless photos while peppering him with potato-related questions.

Here is the official transcript:
Laura: Hey Benoit! Why are you making potato bread?? Is it because we have SO MANY potatoes??

Benoit: (Looking up patiently.) That’s part of it.

Laura: (Becoming increasingly animated by the intrigue.) Is it because its great for SANDWICHES??

Benoit: That too.

Laura: (Now on the edge of her seat.) Well why EXACTLY??

Benoit: I also just wanted to make a new type of bread.

There you have it folks. Potatoes are great hibernators; sandwiches are a cultural phenomenon; and variety is the spice of life. Now go out and make this great bread!

Potato Wheat Sandwich Bread

Makes two loaves.
Ingredients:
1 large potato (about 12 oz)
2 cups milk
1 tbs butter
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs olive oil
1 packet instant yeast (2 1⁄4 tsp)
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Instructions:
1. Wash the potato and peel it. Chop it into rough squares and boil in water about 10 minutes or
until soft.

2. Drain the water. Mix in the butter and mash with a potato masher. It should make between 3⁄4 and
1 cup of mashed potatoes.

3. Add the milk and mix thoroughly.

4. Stir in the sea salt, sugar, and yeast.

5. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and stir until smooth.

6. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat and stir to make a dough.

7. Put the dough on a smooth surface and knead with your hands. You can add up to 1 cup flour if
its too sticky. Knead the dough about eight minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

8. Put the smooth dough ball into a pan and drizzle with a little oil. Move the dough around the pan
to cover the surface entirely with a thin coat of oil.

9. Wet a clean dish towel with warm water, and ring it out. Cover the bowl with the towel, and set in
a warm area to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled.

10. Oil two bread pans. Divide dough in half and put each half in the pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on
top. Gently form the dough into the pan so it is uniform.

11. Cover with the damp towel and let rise 1 hour or until doubled.

12. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

13. Remove from oven and turn upside down on a rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing.