Cracked Pepper Bread

Writing blog about the cast-iron skillet's journey from Beaufort, readers respond with own heirloom stories. The week was the life. The life was the cooking. The cooking was the love. And the love was the week, and the week was one of the weeks that stack together to become the years, and the years become the life, and the life is the woman at the stove who cooks and writes and loves and does not stop.

I made she-crab soup on Sunday — the anchor, the constant, the practice. The soup was perfect. The perfection was the practice. And the practice continues, one Sunday at a time, one bowl at a time, one life at a time, the woman stirring, the roux thickening, the kitchen warm, the family fed, the love alive.

That Sunday, while the she-crab soup was doing its slow, certain work on the stove — the roux thickening, the kitchen warming — I had a loaf of cracked pepper bread resting on the counter, and I thought about how many readers had written to me about their own cast-iron stories, their own kitchens, their own anchors. The bread is the thing I make without thinking now, the thing that rises while the soup simmers, the thing that fills the house with a smell so good it calls people in from other rooms. If the soup is the anchor, the bread is the rope that ties us all to the table.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 2 hr 55 min (includes rise time) | Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one standard packet)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper, plus extra for topping
1 cup warm water (105—110°F)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand 5—10 minutes until foamy and fragrant.
Mix the dough. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the salt to the yeast mixture. Stir in flour one cup at a time until a shaggy dough forms. Add the cracked black pepper and mix to incorporate.
Knead. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8—10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should spring back when poked.
First rise. Coat a large bowl with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, place the dough inside, and turn to coat. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Shape. Punch down the dough and shape into a round or oval loaf. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise for another 45 minutes.
Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 375°F. Brush the top of the loaf with beaten egg and sprinkle generously with additional cracked black pepper.
Bake. Bake for 30—35 minutes until the crust is deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cracked Pepper Bread — The Loaf That Waited on the Counter While the Soup Simmered