IT WORKED!

Okay, so I didn't follow the directions correctly and it still worked, which only encouraged me to repeat the process. Here is how the blob bread turned out! Not only is this milk/egg bread delicious, it's got the flavor of sourdough and beautiful crumb with the bubbles and pores I like!

OKay here is what I did. Feel free to email or leave an IG comment if you know a lot more about breads and yeast and how to improve on the rise/loaf.

I boiled a cleaned, peeled, and diced potato in 1.5 cups of water until ready to mash. I did not pour out the water, I let the potato and water sit and cool for about an hour before I mashed all the potato bits with a regular fork. This left me with a starchy slurry of cold water and mashed potatoes. By this point much of the water had cooked off, it was mostly very wet mash. Like deconstructed potatoes you could ring out and get 1/2 a cup of water.

I poured that humble slush into a clean half-pint mason jar. I added a teaspoon of regular white sugar and (I honestly can't remember if I added a tablespoon or two of flour at this point or the next day). Regardless, I let this sit, lid off by a window, for a few hours. Then I returned the lid to it (not tight, air could escape) and let it sit on the kitchen counter overnight. Luckily, Gus the kitten didn't knock it over. He is not a good cat. He isn't a bad cat, just always in trouble. It's his thing.

The next morning I noticed all the starch and water separated, and there were bubbles on the top (a good sign). I added more flour to it, and gave it a good shake, and set it back with a loose lid on the counter. By that evening, it looked more like a bubbly/playdough kinda concoction but there was still a lot of potato at the bottom. The next morning it went back to being separated and bubbly on top.

Guys, I poured that entire half-pint jar, mash and bubbles and all, into a bowl with 2 cups of white all purpose flour, cracked a medium egg into it, poured in (I don't really measure) maybe a 1/2 cup whole milk, and a pinch of pink salt. I kneaded it until it was the right texture for bread. I had to add a little flour, but in the end I had a slightly sticky and shiny ball I let rise all night and into the next day, almost 24hrs. I knew the egg and milk and the cold house would slow the rise, and it did. But it still rose like a 1/4 bigger, which wasn't very inspiring or good, but it was also just 2.2 cups or so flour.

I brushed some melted butter on top and let it dry before scouring the load. I baked it for maybe 35 minutes on 385. It turned out so so lovely, better than most bread I bake! And it looked beautiful too. Sure, some bites have little chunks of potato, but that's just a little bonus treat for me (next time I will not keep the potato in!) and I will keep experimenting, and following directions (a little better at least), but what a nice surprise! I'm packing a PB&J with this bread for my stream walk/fishing at lunch break and I'm very excited about it.

Did I do this right? No. Did it still work? Yes. Did I make bread that I will like a lot and eat with gusto - yes. Sometimes you just bite into potato with your peanut butter and smile.

Feel free to email with easy ways to make this overnight sourdough or whatever this CAF bread is.