Rolled Oats Bread

Salt Rising Potato-Bread by Tony van Roon

"From Joy of cooking, Rombauer & Becker, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1975"
Makes three 5x9-inch loaves

A fan, trapped by her grandchild's measles, sent us a treatise on lessing the fantastic odors of "salt-rising". She says, "Use non-mealy 2-1/2 inch diameter new red-skinned potatoes for the starter. Place them in a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl in water in an electric Dutch Oven with heat maintained at about 90 to 95°F. Perfect results are produced in 15 hours and with only a mild odor--like that of good Italian cheese." As we lived for some years in an apartment with a salt-rising bread addict and shared the endless variety of smells she produced, we would settle any day for a mild cheese aroma.


Pare, then cut into thin slices:
    o 2-1/2 cups new non-mealy potatoes

Sprinkle over them:
    o 1 tablespoon salt
    o 2 tablespoons sugar
    o 2 tablespoons white cornmeal

Add and stir until salt is dissolved:
    o 4 cups boiling water

Let the potato mixture stand, covered with a cloth, 15 hours. Now squeeze out the potatoes. Discard them. Drain the liquid into a bowl and add, stirring until well blended:


    o 1 teaspoon baking soda
    o 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
    o 5 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Beat and beat "until the arm rebels." Set the sponge in a warm place to rise until light. Bubbles should come to the surface and the sponge should increase its volume by approximately a third. this will take about 1-1/2 hours.


Scald:
    o 1 cup milk

When lukewarm, add:
    o 2 tablespoons butter

Add this to the potato sponge with:
    o 5-6 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Kneed the dough about 10 minutes before shaping it into 3 loaves. Place in greased pans. Let rise, covered, until light and not quite doubled in bulk. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 1hour