Thursday, August 20, 2009

Poor Man's Brioche - BBA!

Forging (not!) ahead on the BBA, we present to you a cousin of the beautiful Brioche. Imagine our surprise at the class system in bread making. This brioche we made is called the Poor Man's Brioche and lacks the bright, rich yellow color of a Rich Man's brioche. Guess why. There is less butter and less eggs.
A and I decided to be poor in terms of butter than be too rich for our waists and tried the Poor Man's Brioche from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baking Apprentice. We're lagging behind big time on this challenge and don't mind it as much. With my tooth ache, apartment hunting, trip planning (more details later!) and other issues, we've hardly found time to cook or bake anything luxurious. Dinners end with salads or couscous or bulgur. Of course, thanks to my tooth ache, salads are out and am feasting on rice since that is the only thing I can eat without using my teeth to bite. You know?

Anyway, this brioche was outstanding! For being a poor man's brioche, it was quite rich and we could taste the butter in this bread. We'd love to try out the Rich Man's Brioche sometime in the future, but I guess that's not anytime now! We ate up this bread just like this - did not make French Toast as planned or even a sandwich. It just disappeared in the night and I had it with some soup the next day for lunch.

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The one thing about Peter Reinhart's recipes are that it works to a T. It works just like he says it does. We have several cookbooks including some from popular authors and there are anomalies here and there. Sometimes, we find stuff too buttery, too bland or too spicy. But with Peter Reinhart, I could do this blindly and reach where he wants us to. His instructions are simple, brilliant, the ingredients very simple and easily substituted with common everyday stuff in some cases. So, if you're looking to buy a good bread book, go no farther. Pick this one up!

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Coming back to the brioche, the crust was brilliantly golden and it glistened. We didn't bake it in Brioche pans since we didn't have any, so ended up baking it in a regular loaf pan. Next time, it will be in that cute little Brioche tin! While the photos themselves may not show the luxuriousness of this bread, the shining crust and the brownness is for real. A was in raptures seeing this bread and claims that so far, this is his fave bread in the book. Me? We'll see. We have a lot more bread to go through and I love herbed, spiced breads more than anything else. So, wait and watch! :)

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Go check what the other challengers are doing with their bread in the Flickr slide at Nicole's. Some of them've gone far ahead, and lent us valuable lessons from the mistakes and the learning they've garnered from this book. Thanks to all of them for that. Check Nicole's blog to see if you can join! :)

41 comments:

Nikita said...

Thanks for recommending the book. Do you have any suggestions for a book on baking in general and not just bread?

PG said...

looks lovely! yum yum!

Indian Khana said...

That looks fab...nice color

Archana said...

That looks absolutely soft and delicious !! Whats with the tooth ?? wisdom tooth giving u problems ??

Donna-FFW said...

Id love a slice of this toasted with some jam. It looks perfect. Beautiful job!

Red Chillies said...

The crust of brioche looks very good and can be sure it tasted delicious. Hope you get some respite from your tooth ache soon:-)

Jaime said...

i love it when recipes come out just like they are supposed to. these would be great for french toast :)

suvi said...

that brioche looks perfect! And you've convinced me on buying the book :)

amna said...

that is one good looking bread, and BBA is a cute name :)

Savi-Ruchi said...

such a soft looking bread.., me all drooling here :)

Soma said...

oh poor you:-(

if this is poor man's i want to see just out of curiosity what kinda yellow hue the rich man's get. I personally don't like the smell of butter in the bread or cake. this is just great.

good you didn't make french toast, breads taste & smell best when just baked.

aTxVegn said...

That is a gorgeous loaf of brioche!

Hannah said...

Rich or poor, brioche is such a treat! Yours looks fabulous. :)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Mmmmm, I could so go for a slice or two!

Hope your toothache is gone away!
~ingrid

miss v said...

i've never had rich man's brioche, so i don't know that i could compare. but your recipes are always so good, i assume this one will not disappoint!

Elle said...

That is delightful looking bread! I can understand why it never made it into French toast or sandwiches.

Usha said...

That is one beautiful loaf of bread!

Parita said...

Bread looks beautiful! lovely crust! i am planning to buy this book from a long time now , hope to start baking breads soon :)

Anonymous said...

The BBA is one of the, if not THE best book for bread bakers out there. That said, with all the dieting going on, you're making brioche? I'll take that beautiful loaf off your hands, thank you ;D

BTW - kind of glad the Yanks lost 2 of 3 to the Rangers, since it hinders the Sox in the WC race ! :P

Juggler said...

This blog is brilliant! Can I visit you if I ever am in Atlanta? I promise to come hungry :-)

Here's to more lip-smacking treats!

Cakelaw said...

I would feel rich indeed if I could sup on this lovely yellow brioche!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Looks just like good bread should. Though in this case it seems the "poor man's brioche" is still too rich!!! :)

That's a lot going on in your lives. Take it easy. Planning trips? To India?

Lavanya Raj said...

Just Perfect Bread!

I have few awards for you on my blog, Do Check it.

http://homecookreceipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/awards-and-meme.html

Vijitha said...

That looks awesome!

Cynthia said...

Sounds like you are very busy. Sorry to hear about the tooth ache.

Raaga said...

its my birthday next month... send me the book as a gift? ;-)

Just kidding... the bread looks yummy!

Bong Mom said...

Ma-in-law gone nahi ki bake-shake shuru ;-)

Megan said...

that bread looks awesome! I would love a big thick slice with some but-tah! Heaven!

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