Garbanzo Bread from wild yeast starter

i am not listing conventional proportions in this recipe. instead i'll provide a goofy pie chart which i believe can translate to others. this is actually part of my process - i find thousands of recipes calling for dry yeast but my current kick is putting my sourdough culture to work - or i run low on one ingredient and have to adjust. this visual aid i make for myself frees me from hardcore arithmetic and  opens my bread to new possibilities as i make the ingredients fit for the batch at hand. i can't either disclose the amounts of the flavor ingredients - i can say i pinched salt into the dough about 6-8 times, i drizzled honey in a few circles on the beans and i foolishly sprinkled cumino in when i should of dumped a spoonful. so here's the ratio charts, further down is the method.

sponge:

50% hydration white sourdough starter

whole wheat flour

water

final dough:

chopped garbanzo beans

white flour (i used white whole wheat and all purpose with vital wheat gluten)

all of sponge

water

additions while mixing:

unsalted butter

raw honey

sea salt

ground cumino

additions for baking:

egg wash

sesame seeds

corn meal and flour

method:

mix sponge and let sit 5-8 hours

chop cooked garbanzo beans and drizzle honey, mix in

mix sponge, most of final flour and half of final water

once gluten strands are noticeable, add butter (about 2 tbsp), salt and cumino

mix in remaining water and then flour as needed

once dough is together knead up to 10 minutes

fold dough into ball and cover in oiled bowl

ferment for 2.5 hrs with folds at first and last hours

turn out and quickly knead

divide dough and preshape into balls, bench rest for at least 20 mins

shape loaves and place in baskets

cover and proof at room temperature for about 50 mins

preheat oven to 450º and prepare stones and steam

check loaves with finger, ready when indention springs back quickly

prepare loaves on parchment paper

apply egg wash and other toppings, score loaves

bake 10 minutes high temp with steam

lower temp, bake additional 20-30 min

cool at least an hour

method notes: 

to mix the sponge i referred to what i've done in the past with dry yeast, which was mix 1.5 c of water to 2.5 c of flour. with my starter at 50% hydration, i settled for the ratio depicted in the first chart which backs of of the flour amount considerably. the flour i used for the sponge was king arthur organic whole wheat. the starter itself had been previously feed with rye and whole wheat flour. the time you allow the sponge to sit does make a difference. i let this batch sit for 5 hours to avoid too sour of a taste. it was just at the point where large pockets were forming and soon would collapse if given another couple hours.

i have made garbanzo bean bread in the past with dry yeast and in those instances milled my beans into a coarse powder as if i were making humus. but during this run, i left my electric mill at friend's house - i couldn't wait for them, i was anxious to get my loaf on, i chopped the garbanzo beans which left them rather chunky - though less chunky and "husky" than if i would of mashed them. end result is quite enjoyable, the larger chunks of the beans offer the ingredient as a more recognizable part of the bread rather than the bread having a garbanzo flavor. i'm also i fan of "nutty" breads done well - and in this effort, i impressed myself. however, i'm concerned weather this bread will spoil quicker as some of the beans are now less integrated with the flours.

about making beans, for me this is a common practice. i prepare a bag of something at least once a week and let the beans sit in the fridge for my modern forage. it's not hard to prepare bulk beans and over cans, is quite a bit cheaper. to soak the beans, give yourself about 8 hours, i'll soak beans over night or while working. dump beans into a large pot, like what you are going to cook them in, or some other larger container. it is suggested that you check beans for rocks, which of coarse i never do, it's just things that are kicked up in the field. fill the container of beans with water so that there is visibly twice as much water. too much never hurt, this water will be drained - too little and the beans will expand over the water and begin to dry. once beans are soaked, drain the water and start a new pot to boil. i never measure my water and intentionally add water so there's something for the beans to sit in as i store them. once water is boiling, add beans and secure at tight lid. if you have a pressure cooker, hooray for you - i've been using a large metal camping pot with foil wrapped on the top - it's something to keep the steam in and create a hotter boiling water. with a pressure cooker, you should follow the cooker's instructions - for us hobos, it can take about 1.5 hours for beans like garbanzo to cook, beans like pintos take up to 3 hours for me some times. once they are cooked they should cool down before you start processing them. if you want to eat some as they bean, this would be the opportunity. i store beans in airtight containers with some of the water from the cooking pot and a dash of sea salt. i have pushed it to 10 days with refrigerated pintos before and they still were edible. i usually go through garbanzos quicker than that but i am confident they will last just as long.

i don't autolyse because i figure this was a step invented by machines - i'll explain - this step is often added to recipes by bakers who use an electric mixer - you mix most of the flour and water in until the dough starts to form and then let it rest for 20 or so minutes - i mix my dough by hand and with the assistance of a wooden spoon - i get tired, i'll take a break when i need, thus allowing the dough to rest.

i've come across some interesting reading about the importance of water. i'll provide some links below - the method i incorporated to this batch included adding water more toward the end of mixing to enhance the gluten strands that had already developed. i've also come across some advice that a wetter dough with this wild yeast is preferable. so, if you find your self attempting these feats and seem discouraged that through the course of kneading that your dough is stickier and moister than you would normally like your dough from dry yeast - don't freak out and start adding a shit load of flour - you can check the dough by pulling it - if it can hold together to your liking, then call it done - with most doughs you can check the transparency by pulling the dough to a thin film and then holding against the light. as long as that gluten is there, the dough is fine. 

on this batch, i decided to get freaky with the pre-oven prep. to make the wash, i mixed oregano leaves and oil olive in with a whole egg and a splash of water. after brushing the wash on, sprinkled a liberal coat of sesame seeds and sifted a whole wheat flour/cornmeal mix. i made deep 1/2 inch scores in experimental designs after all of this coating. as the bread rises, the crust texture takes on the applied textures as the natural crust breaks through - i really like this part of baking now, the final performance of the bread in the oven is quite a spectacle.

i'm pleased with the final product, the chunky garbanzo beans really do make this a "nutty" bread. the flavor of the bean is pronounced in it's individual chunks but also translates through the dough well. have to say the smell coming from my oven was fantastic, best simile would be burning pecan pie and hot dogs. a lot of this aroma was from the toppings and an out-of-sight crust. seriously, egg wash is boss. but i think the oregano leaves were unnecessary - they didn't contribute much. i added the sesame seeds as a nod to humus and think they compliment the crust well. deeper into the bread, the flavor can benefit by more cumino, i feel i was spot on with the salt and the trace of honey helps only in the most unnoticeable way. it may be fun to toss whole cumin seeds in.

well i cut into this mishapped loaf a little earlier than i should of but i had to try it for the sake of science. the crumb is a bit uneven as i've just realized my errors in kneading. below is an inspiring video of what i'm going to try next time around. 

some resources i've recently found helpful:

"Going Wild" from the Wild Yeast Blog discusses converting recipes calling for baker's yeast to work with sourdough starter and "the Baker's Percentage Tutorial" expounds on hydration on dough

"Lessons" from the Fresh Loaf provides some simple ideas that can greatly improve one's bread. this site alone is an extensive resource to artisan baking

Wild Yeast Blog and the Fresh Loaf are both great resources for this artisan bread

Bread making the medieval way (A compilation of research by Jean le Renaud de Pyranees (John Fox)) - this is a pdf download, 6 pages of very helpful information.

i am already deliberating my next batch - i'm thinking of it as dump bread - a massively multi-grain bread from my experimental starter - we'll see what happens




update:


i cut another loaf, now about 6 hours out of the oven and see a much better crumb than the loaf featured above - go figure, bread continues to transform even long after baking - shows that patience is always rewarded

by kevin walsh, 2010