Lobiani, Georgian bean bread

This weekend I got it into my head that I really wanted to try some bread from my Georgian cookbook. Up til now I've pretty much stuck to vegetables and sweets, but it was high time that I made one of the delicious looking bread options. I chose the Lobiani, which is a simple bread with a kidney bean filling, because I had most of the ingredients. I only had to get sour cream.

The Lobiani was very simple to make, you'll just need plenty of space to roll the dough out (which can be a problem in my tiny kitchen). I have an extra large cutting board that I use for rolling out bread doughs. The dough is made from sour cream, eggs, butter and flour, and it's leavened by working baking soda into the dough after it's mixed. The filling is made with lots of onions and kidney beans, plus seasoning and coriander.

Let me just tell you, I will make Lobiani again! It is so good, with the mild kidney beans mixing quite nicely with the sweet onion flavor and coriander. I took a loaf over to share with my Georgian friend and he told me more than once how delicious the Lobiani was.

I did change a few things. First off, the recipe said not to leave the dough out for more than 8 hours or it'll turn sour. Of course I did (just FYI, don't fall asleep on the couch at about the time you're supposed to be starting a baking project), but I just threw the dough in the fridge overnight and let it warm up the next morning and everything was fine. I actually liked the sour taste. Also, I used canned white kidney beans because I had them. Other than that, I did everything the recipe told me to do, and everything was great. The recipe after the jump.


Makes two loaves.

Dough
10 Tb/ 1.25 sticks/ 6oz softened butter
2 eggs
2 cups sour cream (1 -16oz container)
4 C unbleached all purpose flour
4 ea 1/4tsp of baking soda

Filling
1 lb dried kidney beans (soaked overnight), or 1 large can of kidney beans.
3-4 medium onions
2/3 C vegetable oil
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
( I take instructions on seasoning as a jumping off point)

1 egg

Cream the butter, beat in the eggs and sour cream, scrape down the bowl, and add the flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, roll out into a large rectangle, and sprinkle on 1/4 tsp baking soda. Fold the rectangle in half, then in half again. Repeat this process of rolling out/sprinkling/folding three more times to work in all four 1/4 tsp of baking soda. Place in a container, covered, for 6-8 hours, or 2-3 in a warm spot (or in the fridge overnight).

Make the filling while waiting on the dough by draining the beans (if you soaked them overnight) then covering them with fresh water and bringing them to a boil. Simmer them until soft (about an hour), drain, and mash until there's no lumps. Conversely, you can open a can (I used a 14oz can, but something a little larger would probably be better if you can find it), rinse the beans, and mash them. I "mashed" mine in my stand mixer since I don't have a masher. Chop the onions and cook them in the oil until they're soft/translucent. Stir the onions into the beans, and season to taste. Now you can set that aside til the sough is ready.

When the dough has risen, divide it in half. Roll each piece out into a long rectangle, spoon the filling onto one half of the rectangle, and pull the other side of the dough over the filling. Seal the edges of the dough together similar to a calzone. Beat the egg in a bowl and brush some on each loaf. Bake in an oven that's been preheated to 350°F. bake for 20 minutes, turn, and then bake for 20 more minutes. Should be nice and golden brown when done.