Last Night's Dinner

Yesterday I made deep dish pizza from scratch!  It called for a POTATO in the dough!!!  I just LOVE this Baking Illustrated cookbook.  It teaches the science behind the food.  So for any other *nerds* out there, this is for you!

The boiled potatoes in our deep-dish pizza dough and our focaccia dough have a distinct effect on the flavor and texture of the final crust.  The result: a moister, more tender, sweeter and softer dough than one made with just wheat flour.  We wanted to know why the boiled potatoes made such a difference.

According to Dr. Al Bushway, professor of food science at the University of Maine, potatoes contain more starch than wheat.  Since starch traps moisture during baking, this creates a moister dough.  Potatoes also contain less protein than flour.  This results in less gluten being formed in the dough, which in turn produces a softer, more tender product.  Finally, potatoes add another dimension of flavor in two ways.  First, the free sugars in the potatoes cause faster fermentation, resulting in a more complex flavor in a shorter period of time.  Second, the sugars that are not consumed by the years in the fermentation process add sweetness to the final dough.  (Baking Illustrated, pg. 164)

COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was SOOOO good, too.  (I don't mind telling you that!)  Look how pretty it was!

I highly recommend this cookbook!  It would make a good Christmas request!  :)