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Submitted by Shiao-Ping on July 15, 2009 - 9:18am

James J MacGuire's Pain de Tradition


Many TFL users would recognise Mr James J. MacGuire's name as he is the technical editor for Prof. Raymond Calvel's "The Taste of Bread."   In a 10 page article entitled, "The Baguette" in the Winter 2006 issue of Mr Edward Behr's quarterly magazine "The Art of Eating," ie. No 73+74 issue, Mr  MacGuire's message about a good French traditional bread is very clear: slow & gentle mixing with autolyse, long fermentation, and high hydration.  

A 4-page formula follows The Baguette article in the same issue and is entitled "A Full-Flavored, Minimum-Kneading, All-Included Recipe for a Round Loaf with Many of the Advantages of the Baguette."    This is an old-style straight-dough formula which is superhydrated and can also be used for baguette.   My understanding from reading the article is that the method in the formula is like that applied in Prof. Calvel's younger days.  I made my bread using Mr MacGuire's formula in the magazine and I called it "James J MacGuire's Pain de Tradition" which may not be entirely accurate but it is how I understood it to be.   I would strongly encourage any one who is interested in Mr MacGuire's detailed formula to have a look at his well-written article in the Art of Eating magazine.  As a home baker, I can finally say that I have found a method that I can rely upon with consistent result, and I thank Mr MacGuire for making the formula available to home bakers as well as Mr Behr's for publishing such a quality magazine. 

As Mr MacGuire says in Prof. Calvel's "The Taste of Bread" that bakers have always been known for their desire to form friendships and for their willingness to share, to me no sharing is as useful as pointing to the right direction.   I first learnt about the MacGuire's article through the Q & A with Daniel T. DiMuzio when Floyd and Eric interviewed Mr DiMuzio back in May this year.  If Mr DiMuzioh had not mentioned about it, I would not have known about Mr MacGuire's recipe. 

The following is the bread that I made based on Mr MacGuire's formula:      

  

      

                 

                 

                                                                                    

                                                                                    

When it came out of the oven, it sang for the best part of 6 to 7 minutes.   There was a very strong nutty aroma in the crust.  The crumb was a beautiful creamy color; it's light and delicate to taste.

Shiao-Ping  

Submitted by Cliff Johnston on April 23, 2007 - 11:36am.

Recipe

Susan,

Yes, and first I'll add that the recipe that comes with the pan is basically the same as one in an old recipe book that I have, "The Bread Tray" by Louis P. DeGouy, who was the chef at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for some 30 years.  I also made some changes, corrections for spelling and word selection.

2 - 2-1/2 c. warm water (105°-110°F) [I used 2-1/2c.]

1 Tbs. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

6 - 6-1/2 c. all purpose flour [I used 6 c. bread flour]

1 Tbs. salt (kosher or sea salt preferable) [I used sea salt]

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.   Allow to rest until bubbles or foam begin to appear.  Add flour and stir together.  Move shaggy dough onto lightly floured surface.  Knead dough by hand or with mixer/dough hook until dough begins to come together and become smoother. 

[I've got bad thumbs - reconstructive surgery is in the near future - so rather than use my hands to knead bread dough I use a large silicone spatula.  I have found this to be ideal.  I get the initial dough mixed in the kitchen and then take the bowl of dough to the livingroom where I sit in comfort and knead it with the large spatula.  I find that I can grasp the spatula with my other fingers against my palm and exert little pressure on my thumbs.  It works!] 

Cover with towel or upside-down bowl and allow to rest 5 minutes or so.  Sprinkle salt on dough and continue kneading until very smooth and elastic.  You may add a little four, but not too much!  Oil bowl and add dough.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to double in size.

[Again, I used the spatula and bowl mixing method described previously.  I forgot to oil the bowl - no problem.  I left my dough out overnight on the kitchen counter - something like 12 hours.]

After rising, gently turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface.  Shape into 5"x7" rectangle.  Fold as in a letter, and then roll into tube jelly-roll style using heel of hand to seal edge as you roll.  Allow to rest a few minutes.  Using both hands, roll dough into long baguette the length of the pan.  Dust off any loose flour and place in pan. 

[Here is where the size of the dough doesn't match the baguette pan.  I tore the dough in half to make 2 baguettes.  I have a silicone pastry mat that I bought on eBay for something like 99 cents that I used for shaping the dough on.  I love it.  In one of the pics you'll see my revered mother's hard maple dough board from the 1940's.  Sorry, Mom, the silicone mat is much better.  If anyone wants to buy her dough board, it's for sale.  Also, the dough loaf should be shaped so that it is approximately 3"-4" shorter than the channel for the bread in the pan.  Then center it.  That will eliminate the dough spreading out of the open ends and going down...]

Allow dough to rise a 2nd time for 1 - 1-1/4 hours.  Preheat oven during this time.  After final rise, slash tops in 4-5 diagonal cuts with blade or knife.  Spray surface of dough with water mist and place into 400°F oven.  Close oven as quickly as possible.

[I reverted to DeGouy's recipe here and let it rise for 3 hours.  I also forgot to slash the tops and didn't spray the surface of the dough with a water mist, but I did add poppy seeds to one loaf - delicious!  I then added boiling water to my steam machine...lol...]

Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven) until golden.  Internal bread temperature will be about 200°F.  Once golden, you may take bread out of pans and replace into oven, now turned off.  Allow to rest in oven, door ajar until cool.  Or, rest for about 5 minutes in oven and cool on cooling rack about minutes.  Enjoy!

[I reverted to DeGouy here and baked the bread for 15 minutes at 400°F, then turned the oven down to 375°F for the final 20-30 minutes - 200°F internal temperature.  I took the bread pan out of the oven, removed the baguettes and placed them back in the oven.  The oven was turned off, and the door left ajar for 5 minutes.  Then I removed the baguettes to the cooling rack for 15 minutes at which point I couldn't hold the troops back any longer.  The baguettes were attacked, torn apart, and eaten with gusto, taking time between bites to capture some images.] {Caution:  As I've split the dough into 2 pieces the baking time is less than stated in the two recipes that I used/combined.  Today I reduced it to 20 minutes, and it is still too long.  It hasn't hurt the bread that I know of, but the next time I'll take the internal temperature at 15 minutes.}

I hope that this helps you.  Good break making!

Cliff. Johnston
"May the best you've ever seen,
 Be the worst you'll ever see;"
from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay