Potato, Thyme and Goat Cheese Pavé #BBB

The nice thing about making your own bread, (other than it being fresh and delicious and having simple ingredients), is that at its most basic all you need (knead, ha!) is flour, salt, yeast and water to make it.  This is a little more elaborate than the basic base ingredients, but a nice, soft dough to work with.  I had just barely enough sprigs of good, usable thyme in the garden to fulfill my requirements, though it wouldn't hurt to have added more!  Hubby turned some of the squares I cut into "dinner rolls" and loved them.  The bread has a beautifully soft and spongy texture.  I riced my potatoes to make sure they were very uniform and not chunky.   And though it is best served fresh and warm, it does reheat nicely.  I made a half batch, just the right size for our family for dinner.

We would love for you to try out this simple, dinner friendly recipe and join in as a buddy baker this month!  You don't have to have a blog to participate, a picture will do. Just send a picture or your post of your finished loaf to me at eleyana (AT) aol (DOT) com by the 31st of this month. Be sure to put BBBuddy in the subject line. You will receive a Bread Baking Buddy graphic to keep or add to your post, and be included in our Buddy round up at the end of the month.  New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.

Potato, Thyme and Goat Cheese Pavé
world breads from pain de campagne to paratha
makes 1 large loaf or two smaller loaves

500g (4½ cups) strong white flour
50g (¼ cup) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
250 ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) warm milk or water
20g fresh yeast or 7g instant (¼oz active dry) yeast
1 tsp sugar
100g (1 cup) plain mashed or riced potato, warm (no added cream or butter)
1 tsp fine salt
1 egg, beaten

150g (2/3 cup) mature goat's cheese, grated (don't worry if you can't find hard goat cheese, it's not all that common around here, though I did find manage to find a hard goat gouda.  Sub sheep or cow if desired or leave out.)

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (feel free to increase!)

Place the flour and instant yeast if using, in a large bowl or stand mixer and rub in the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. If using fresh yeast, mix half the milk or water in a small bowl with the yeast and sugar, and leave to stand for 10 minutes until frothy.

Add the yeast mixture and the remaining milk or water. Next add the warm mashed or riced potato, salt, egg and grated cheese and knead on low with a dough hook until a soft dough forms.

Turn mixer up to medium and knead for 5-8 minutes or until smooth and elastic.  Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Turn out the dough and press out to deflate. Add the fresh thyme and mix until well distributed. Shape dough into a large rectangular loaf or two smaller loaves of about an inch or so in height, (2½-4 cm), (recipe may be halved) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and return to a warm place to rise again for 40-45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF).   Using a sharp knife, score deeply in a criss-cross fashion on the top of the bread.  Brush the loaf lightly all over with some egg wash or spray with water and dust with flour for a crustier loaf.  Bake on a center shelf for 25-30 minutes until golden.  Bread should be done when evenly golden brown and around 185-190ºF internal temperature. Cut into squares to serve.  (Or slices for dipping in soup.)

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen

We are a soup and stew family and this is a great soup and stew dipping bread!