Next time you boil potatoes, don’t drain them into the sink! Save the water for great bread! The dissolved potato starch in the water gives the yeast plenty to be happy about so it rises fast.
2 cups potato water
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast
Pour the water into a large bowl. When the water cools to lukewarm, whisk the flour, salt and yeast. Cover it and set it aside. In about ten minutes, the yeast should be active and the mix should be foamy.
3-5 cups flour
Start mixing in flour, a bit at a time by hand or using a mixer and dough hook, until the dough holds together, feels stretchy and gets nice and elastic.
Form the dough into a couple of loaves, coat them in olive oil and put them into loaf pans, Put the loaf pans in the over with the light on and let them rise until they fill the loaf pans. Bake at 400 for fifteen minutes and at 300 for fifteen more.
Serve with a smug grin!