Potato - Cheese Bread

This delicious, cheesy bread comes from Cookshelf Baking by Emma Patmore. I rarely pay attention to cookbooks and generally keep recycling our family recipes for everyday cooking. However my trip to our local library doesn't end without a visit to the cookbooks aisle. It is hard to pick from the large collection over there but the titles "vegetarian / vegan" and how colorfully the dishes have been captured in the book play a part in my selection. I go through them leisurely at home and as my husband points out, I give cookbooks as much attention as an interesting novel deserves even though hardly anything interesting happens practically. :) He is not wrong, I just keep admiring the work of the author and the photographer without actually cooking anything from the book.  

The story is same with the books I own too. And so for a change, I went to my bookshelf this time instead of rushing to the library when I thought of "Cooking from a Cookbook" theme. Many years ago, a couple of books caught my husband's attention that were being sold at Michael's, the arts and crafts store. Each book had about 120 recipes, with crisp pictures and neat description. They were easy to carry and moreover sold at a petty price and so he brought them home. This Cookshelf - Baking book was one of them and I have to say this was the second recipe I tried in 8 years. :) And both this cheese bread and the Olive oil, fruit and nut cake I tried didn't disappoint. I served this bread with a salad and a veggie - corn chowder.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
2 cups grated red Leicester cheese (I substituted it with sharp cheddar cheese.)
2 cups cooked and mashed potatoes
3/4 cup water (minus 2 Tbsp worked for me.)
1 Tbsp oil

Method:
* Sieve the flour, salt, mustard powder and baking powder into a bowl.
* Reserve 2 Tbsp cheese aside. Stir in the mashed potatoes and the remaining cheese into the bowl. Mix well until combined.
* Add oil and then pour in water gradually and prepare a soft dough. 
* Work on a floured surface and shape the dough into a 8 inch round loaf. 
* Place the loaf on a greased baking sheet. Mark the loaf into 4 portions with a knife, without completely cutting through. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese.

* Bake the loaf in a preheated oven at 425 deg F for about 25 - 30 minutes. (I baked about 22 minutes and at 350 deg F baked for about 10 minutes.)
* Transfer the bread to a wire rack and allow it to cool. Serve it fresh.

Check here to know what other marathoners of BM#25 are cooking.

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