Recipe: Craig Claiborne's Salt Rising Bread (no yeast)

CRAIG CLAIBORNE'S SALT RISING BREAD
Makes 2 loaves

"Salt-rising bread best known below Mason-Dixon line. Salt-rising bread is another of those regional American dishes for which some people have a passion and which inspire in others something short of aversion. The bread is made by a natural fermentation, and for a period it is a bit malodorous. The finished product is a bit tangy with a flavor which is at times described as 'cheese-like'. Because of the timing and temperature, it takes a little practice to make a perfect loaf. For the ambitious and nostalgically inclined, here is a recipe for it."

2 medium-size potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons corn meal
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups boiling water
2 cups milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
8 cups sifted all-purpose flour, approximately, divided use
1/4 cup soft shortening or butter, at room temperature

TO PREPARE THE POTATO LIQUID:
Place the potatoes, corn meal, sugar, and salt in a 3-quart bowl. Add the 2 cups boiling water and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Cover with transparent wrap or foil. Set the bowl in a pan of warm water over the pilot light of a stove, or where it will stay at about 120 degrees F, until small bubbles show in the surface, for 24 hours or longer.

Remove the potatoes to a sieve and press out excess moisture. Add this liquid to the potato water still in the bowl. Discard the potatoes.

PREPARING THE DOUGH, FIRST RISE:
Add the milk, baking soda, and 4 cups of the flour to the potato water in the bowl. Stir until smooth. Set the bowl again in the pan of warm water and let it stand for about two hours, until the dough is almost doubled in bulk.

SECOND RISE:
Chop the shortening or butter into one cup of the remaining flour. Add this to the dough. Add enough additional flour, about three cups, to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead on a floured surface quickly and lightly. Do not let dough get cold. Return the dough to the bowl, grease the surface of the dough, and let it rise for about two hours, until doubled in bulk.

TO SHAPE THE LOAVES, THIRD RISE:
Turn the risen dough out on a lightly floured surface and shape into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pans (9x5x3-inches) and grease the tops of the loaves. Let rise again for about two hours, until almost doubled in bulk, or slightly above the tops of the pans. Sprinkle the tops with corn meal if desired.

TO BAKE:
About 15 minutes before the loaves have finished rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for about 35 minutes longer, or until the bread shrinks from the sides of the pans and is well browned. Cool on a rack.

Makes 2 loaves
Adapted from source: Craig Claiborne newspaper food column, Dec 18, 1975