Anjou Bakery Potato Bread

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

   Scrub potatoes under cold running water. Bake potatoes until tender, but still slightly firm, about 1 hour. Cool completely. Cut into 1-inch cubes and set aside.

2. Combine diced potatoes, water and cider in the bowl of a planetary mixer. Stir in the combined flour, yeast, salt, and fennel seeds and mix on low speed. You may prefer to mix this dough by hand. It will be wet and sticky.

   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place (about 70°F) for about 18 hours.

3. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little more flour and fold the dough over on itself twice as if folding a towel. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

4. Generously coat a plain linen or cotton (no nap) towel with flour and sprinkle with cornmeal or wheat bran. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, quickly and gently form it into a ball and place it seam side down on the towel. Dust with more flour and cornmeal or bran and cover with another towel. Allow dough to rise for about 2 hours until double in size.

5. At least one-half hour before dough is ready, put a 6 – 8 quart covered Dutch oven or other heavy covered pot (ceramic, enamel) into the oven and preheat oven to 500°F

6. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the heated pot from the oven. Remove top towel, turn dough into the pot and remove the bottom towel. The seam side should become the top when the dough is flipped into the pot. As the bread bakes, the seam may open into an attractive texture. Shake lightly to distribute dough if necessary. It will take an even shape as it bakes.

7. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for additional 15-20 minutes to brown the crust. The crust will be quite dark because of the apple cider in the recipe.

   Cool on a wire rack.