Purple Potatoes!

Last week, members of the Catholic Student Association spent several evenings digging potatoes, and wound up with many more than they had room to
store. About 20 pounds of potatoes made their way to our apartment, where they spent several days spread across the entire living room floor to dry -- I finally found time to sort through them and box them up a few nights ago. Quite a few had been speared in the harvesting process, and it seemed best to cook them up right away so they didn't have a chance to go bad. I began by washing what I had been told were reds.

From under their heavy coats of dirt emerged delicate, smooth skins of the deepest, richest, glossiest shade of purple I have ever seen. The first few millimeters of flesh beneath the skim were creamy white, beyond which the majority of the interior of the potato was a soft, marbled lavender.

I was so excited... Think of the exciting food possibilities presented by purple potatoes! Purple mashed potatoes, purple potato bread, purple potato cinnamon rolls, My Little Pony-colored shepherd's pie... I guess that might be a little weird; what would you put in it? Sweet corn, Lima beans, and beets? Anyway, I quickly chopped them up and threw them in a pot to boil. We worried that they might lose some of their color as they cooked, but there was no need for concern; not only did the potatoes remain purple, but the water in which they cooked turned a bright blue-green!

The idea of purple potato bread sounded fun, but it was getting pretty late, so I mashed up the potatoes and put then in the refrigerator to work with the following day. When I got home from work Friday afternoon, I was amazed at how the color had changed; the mashed potatoes had gone from a nice lavender to a vibrant indigo! This bread was going to be exciting...

It did turn out a lovely shade of purple, somewhere between the original color of the potatoes and the neon mashed potatoes; unfortunately, the whole loaf disappeared at dinner last night before I remembered to take a picture! My refrigerator bread recipe worked well with the mashed potatoes, though, and it is so convenient to be able to make dough before you go to bed one night and have it ready to throw in the oven the next evening for dinner, so I wanted to share it.

(Purple) Potato Refrigerator Bread

2.25 tsp active yeast
1.5 c warm water (use reserved water from boiling the potatoes for extra flavor!)
0.5 c sugar
3.5 Tbsp brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
0.67 c shortening
2 eggs
1.5 c mashed potatoes
7 to 7.5 c flour

In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in rest of ingredients except flour. Mix in flour gradually until dough is easy to handle. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover with wax paper, then a damp towel. Place in refrigerator at least overnight; dough will keep several days if necessary. About 2 hours before baking, shape dough into loaves, rolls, cinnamon rolls, etc. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1.5 to 2 hours. Bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes for loaves, 15 to 20 minutes for rolls. Makes two large loaves or two 13x9 pans of dinner rolls.