GAIL's Potato and Rosemary Sourdough Loaf, 650g

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I chose to puree the potatoes in my blender for a smooth consistency (and a few chunks) but you could also dice the potatoes if you’d like to have bits of potato very evident in the crumb. Additionally, you could wash the potatoes and leave the skin on for added texture and interest. Early trials of this recipe using thyme instead of rosemary Vitals Total Dough Weight Minimum life based on 'use-by' date of product. Average life based on last week's deliveries. Life guarantee shown based on delivery tomorrow with the Life guarantee starting the following day. After five years supplying chefs, the team saw a gap in the market to bring high-quality bread out of high-end restaurants and into neighbourhood cafes. Molnar and Avidan bought half the company and in 2005 opened the first Gail’s in Hampstead, north London with Mejia giving them her blessing to use her name. “She just said: you’d better do a good job.” Imbued with umami herbs and seeds, the GAIL’s Potato & Rosemary Sourdough can be topped with torn mozzarella and roast vegetables, or simply served alongside soup.

This crustruns the most striking gamut of colors from dark mahogany to light yellow. There's no doubt the extra sugars in the potato helped this crust color nicely in the oven. While it may look craggy and hard, it's actually quite soft and when toasted, it becomes super svelteand crunchy. The group – which sells everything from potato and rosemary sourdough to brioche loaves – has brought restaurant-quality baking to the masses, and it has got no plans to slow down. Bake the loaves at 450°F (232°C) for 20 minutes with steam, then remove the steaming pans from inside the oven. Then, bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or until done. I came to London and realised there wasn’t a great food scene. There were some good restaurants but certainly not much good bread,” he explains.When the news came out there was some confusion over whether there was any overlap with us, but there never was even though Luke was involved in both,” says Molnar. “There was a lot of noise in the media about Patisserie Valerie potentially buying us in 2018, which was false. That was not a serious thing, but I think that’s why a lot of people got the association.” Now 1,000 people work in the company’s north London HQ (‘the mothership’), which supplies all Gail’s bakeries, as well as the wholesale clients such as restaurants, airport lounges and boxes at Wembley stadium. In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, flour, sourdough starter, and salt with your hands, a wooden spoon, or dough whisk. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes for the water to hydrate the flour.This process is called autolyse, which allows all the flours to become hydrated. Transfer to floured banneton or a bowl lined with a tea towel (I like to use rice flour). Another option is an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and proof for 12-15 hours in the refrigerator.

After baking, follow my guide to storing sourdough bread to keep it fresh for the next week (or freeze for longer!). Conclusion This focus on its product led to the development of Gail’s Waste-Not range, made with surplus and leftover products. In 2018 Roz Bado, the group’s head baker, created its Waste-Less sourdough by whizzing leftover loaves in to breadcrumbs and turning it into a ‘porridge’. This is added to fresh white sourdough starter, with malt and salt to create a new loaf. Fragrant with fresh rosemary and nigella seeds, the baked, mashed potatoes we add to this bread make it surprisingly light and help it keep brilliantly for days. If you do have any to use up, it can’t be beat when it comes to making croutons or stuffing. In the bakeries we make a 500g loaf, but Ocado also sell it in 250g, 400g and a whopping 1kg version.Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread, ensuring it is active and bubbly. The active starter should be able to pass the float test. Take a small dollop of starter and place it in room temperature water. If it floats it is ready to make flour. This is really good but you should try to make sourdough potato bread sometime, it’s delicious.” I’ve probably heard my Dad utter a version of thatfifty times to date, usually just after eating a slice of my fresh sourdough bread. Let the potatoes cool until you can handle them, then peel and puree in a blender (or mash them with a potato masher) until smooth and just a few large chunks remain. Let cool until called for during mixing. My version of potato bread is a spin on an Italian bread laden with mashed/pureed potatoes. In taking cues from my approach to making gnocchi, I like to roast the potatoes instead of boiling them. I find this gives the potatoes a nice color and texture; plus, it helps dry the flesh out, preventing unwanted water absorption that could later be released into the dough.

Cover each basket with plastic and then place it in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) for 13-14 hours. 8. Bake – Next Morning: Preheat oven at 6:00 a.m., Bake at 7:00 a.m. The mother of all breads. This is our signature loaf, made long, slow and lovingly from 15-year-old wild yeast starters. A little chewy, a little tangy, with a dark, burnished crust. We bake it in 500g and 2kg loaves. Also available at Waitrose and on Ocado.Selling bread from a 30-year-old source is a potential food standards nightmare, and measures are in place to ensure a whole day’s batch can be pulled if anything goes wrong. “We had a big issue trying to explain to food safety how this culture has been alive for so long, but we didn’t want them to stop craft bakers making something that’s safe.” Turn the oven temperature down to 475, remove the lid, and bake an additional 25 minutes or until browned. Storage: I should note that through my development of this recipe I provided my Dad with ample test loaves and gathered his input. My final version here scored the highest marks, even if I did receive a final comment indicating I should push the potato percentage higher one day… With Johnson’s help Gail’s may have reached 60 cafes, but Molnar deliberately resisted the turbo-charged growth seen by other brands in the sector. “I actually slowed down when people were speeding up. I said the money had to go on food not rent. You were seeing incredible competition for prime spaces that would have meant I’d have had to cut corners.” Towards the end of its life, we recommend transforming the loaf into croutons, stuffing or even a croque monsieur.

Arriving in the UK in the late 1990s, it was a struggle to find a good London sourdough that led him to finally quit the world of business and take up baking. Transfer to flour banneton or bowl with tea towel and cover with plastic. Place in the refrigerator for 12-15 hours. The Next Day But the project didn’t last. “It started and ended on a high,” says Molnar. “I admire people who successfully run restaurants over many years, it’s tough. The restaurant was an experiment but it wasn’t something I had the time or energy to focus on in the end, so it was better to focus on something we knew how to do.” We’re a bit like ageing scientists now, trying to pass the knowledge on to the next generation,” says Molnar. “But bread shouldn’t just be in the hands of great chefs, it should be more widely available for people. I’ve always believed that.” am:Feed sourdough starter with flour and water. Depending on how active your sourdough starter is, it could take between 4-12 hours for it to be active enough to bake a loaf of bread.

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Since 2005 the bakery sector has gained momentum, with Denmark’s Ole & Steen, French import Paul, Brussels-born Le Pain Quotidien and even Greggs expanding at pace across the high street. Molnar is unphased, and believes there is still a niche for Gail’s bread on the high street. But this web might not be as invisible and hidden as it might first seem. We see evidence of the intermingled connections each time we sit down to eat: “this cake reminds me of that one you made 2 years ago when…,” or “this salad reminds me of that time we were traveling through Italy and stopped in at…” In fact, I’d go out on a limb and say just about every meal I eat with my family we talk about other meals eaten, or other dishes enjoyed in the past — and it's through that traversal of the food-memory web where we are instantly, and clearly, transported to a significant time and place in our otherwise blurred history.