Potato Sourdough Sandwich Rolls

I get up before anyone else in the house.  On Sunday I got up, made the fire, made the coffee, and looked at the sourdough starter I fed last night.

On Saturday night just before bed, I take the starter out of the fridge, pour it into a glass bowl, add 1.5 cup of warm water and 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour, mix it up and cover it with a lid that sits a little sideways.  The yeasts eat all night long and burps and farts, and in the morning, I have a bowl full of full yeast in a bubbling mess.  I pull out 1.5 cups of starter, pour it into the cleaned jar, cover it and stuff it back into the fridge for another week.
If you remember, I was not being a good yeast mom and my yeast got a little weak.  But I have mended my ways and the yeast is fat and happy again...which brings me to another problem...I am fat and happy too, with all this fresh bread in the house.  Oh well, the sacrifices we make to protect the ones we love...

So this Sunday morning, while everyone else slept in their warm beds, I made bread.  We had some giant baked potatoes for dinner the night before and had several left over so I shredded one and threw it into the mix.  This makes for a soft crumb and perfect for sandwich rolls.  So later this week we will have sandwiches for dinner on these soft, delicious rolls.

Potato Sourdough bread

1.5 cups sourdough starter, after it has been fed
1/4 cup water, very warm but not hot
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 scant Tbsp. salt
1.5 cups grated baked potato
3 cups flour plus more for kneading

Add yeast and sugar to warm water, mix well and set aside to proof, about 10-15 min.

In large, non-reactive bowl, add sourdough starter, yeast-sugar water, grated potato, and salt.  Mix well.  Add about 3 cups of flour and mix (I do this with my Kitchen Aide).  Turn dough out onto a well floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed, this takes me about 5-10 minutes.

Oil a large bowl, form dough into a ball and place in bowl, turning so the top gets oiled.  Cover with a towel or saran wrap and let rise, in a warm place, until double in size.  Punch down, knead lightly and shape into desired loaf or roll shapes.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and cover with towel again.  Let rise the second time until double in size. Just before baking slash tops of bread with a very sharp knife to allow for rising in the oven. Bake at 400°F for 20-30 (depending on shapes) minutes until golden brown.

I made 6 3-oz. rolls (yes, I weigh the dough) and one loaf with this recipe.  The rolls needed about 20 minutes to bake and the loaf needed about 35 minutes to bake in my oven.

1 year ago:   Prime Rib
2 years ago: Manhattan - Drink of the Week

March 3, 2014   Daylight 10 hrs. 22 min. 18 sec.   Temp. H 19 / L 0 °F