Use fresh rosemary as well, both for flavour and colour! I have also tried this with a 60/40 mix of wholemeal to white, or try using more wholemeal which seems to carry the pepper flavour better than organic white (not sure why), perhaps a flavour scientist can give me a clue??? Forget the bag of picante flavoured crisps, and enjoy this with a good strong cheddar cheese and a glass of cold beer!
Ingredients
300 gm shipton wholemeal flour
200 gm shipton organic white flour
300 gm water
14 gm fresh yeast
7 gm salt
24 gm rapeseed oil
1 tblsp chopped fresh rosemary
1- 2 tsp milled black pepper
Method
Combine all the bread ingredients and half of the oil, leaving pepper and rosemary, and knead until dough is soft and elastic. Add rest of oil and work in. Set aside for 1/2 hour until risen.
Bookfold and then bench rest for a further 1/2 hour until doubled in size in a lightly oiled bowl covered in clingfilm.
Once dough has sufficiently risen, remove from bowl and place on surface sprinkled with rosemary and the milled black pepper. If you are fan of pepper, the more the better! It works well with the Rosemary, and doesn't overwhelm it with heat.
As you knock back and shape dough into a ball, pick up the rosemary and blackpepper working lightly into the bread.
Once shaped set aside in oiled bowl or proving basket and let rest to rise for another hour.
Place on baking sheet, slash with knife, sprinkle with water and mill a bit of pepper on top of bread. (You can use a bit of salt at this point if you like, but I don't bother).
Bake at 220 for 10 minutes in steam oven (or use pan of water at the bottom just before putting bread in), then turn oven down to 200 and bake for a further 25 - 30 depending on your oven.
This bread needs to be thoroughly cooled before eating/cutting to appreciate the flavour. The rosemary is at it's best flavour-wise when cooled! Trust me on that!!