A Partial Success: 30% Sprouted Quinoa SD (No VWG)

True: it looks embarrassingly ugly. 

Also true: it tastes phenomenally good.

30% Sprouted Quinoa Almonds Sourdough

Dough flour (all freshly milled):

150g      50%       Whole spelt flour

90g       30%       Sprouted quinoa flour (I used a mix of white and black)

60g       20%       Whole Red Fife flour

For leaven:

5g        1.67%       Starter

20g      6.67%       Bran sifted out from dough flour

20g      6.67%       Water

For dough:

280g     93.3%       Dough flour excluding bran for leaven

245g     81.7%       Water

45g          15%       Leaven

5g          1.67%      Salt

Add-ins:

30g           10%       Toasted almonds, halved crosswise

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302.5g      100%       Whole grain

267.5g     88.4%       Total hydration

Sift out the coarse bran from the dough flour, reserve 20g for leaven. Soak the rest (I got 7 g) in equal amount of water taken from dough ingredients.

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until doubled, around 3 hours.

Roughly combine all dough ingredients. Construct a set of stretch and fold at the 15 and 30 minutes marks. Knead in the almonds at the 45 minutes mark then ferment for 3 hours 30 minutes longer.

Preshape the dough then let it rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough and put in into a banneton. Retard for 10 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F.

Score and spritz the dough then bake at 250°C/482°F with steam for 15 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

There were at least 4 factors I have thought of that might be responsible for the collapsed structure: 

1.      The omission of vital wheat gluten

2.      Weak and slack dough due to high hydration

3.      High enzymatic activities from sprouted and freshly milled flour

4.      Simply over-fermentation/over-proofing 

Or more likely, a combination of them…

Whatever, the bread still has amazing taste from sprouted quinoa. It is detectably nuttier than most bread I have baked in the past. There is only mild sourness but the sweetness is much more pronounced.  

What I like about sprouted quinoa other than its nice flavour is how forgiving it is, despite being gluten-free. The dough was easy to work with as it was just as elastic and extensible as composed of all whole wheat/spelt flour. Moreover, quinoa didn’t affect the texture of this bread adversely. Unlike buckwheat, Masa Harina, durum and rye, which often produce sticky/dry/sandy/cakey crumb, including quinoa in the formula still yielded moist and springy bread.

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Spiced rice with pan grilled veggies, baked grouper and roasted yellow peppers relish

Crab cakes (recipe recommended by dabrownman, I swapped 80% mayo with homemade yogurt and they turned out great) with quick pickled cucumbers, corn, orange peppers & cilantro salsa, baked spiced chicken drumsticks, penne in parmesan tomatoes sauce, pan grilled cauliflower, caramelized cauliflower leaves (…again…so you know how much we love them)

Paprika that has been sitting on the supermarket shelf for months shouldn’t be called “paprika” (you know, those sold in pretty little bottles) It has nothing to offer other than some red colour, contrary to the fresh kind, which is super pungent and smoky!

By the way, I'm calling this flatbread :)