Comments for my Voice is in here somewhere...

Comment on More About Mark by Mark

Mark — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:33:45 +0000

WOW! what a cool link. Thanks for sharing this Jim.

Comment on More About Mark by chezjim

chezjim — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:16:50 +0000

Ah! Coincidentally just before I happened (admittedly a bit late) on this post, I had just found a French baker’s videos of how to make certain specialty breads – including “pain tordu”:

http://www.archivesaudiovisuelles.fr/FR/_video.asp?id=1690&ress=5424&video=120368&format=68#22064

It’s in French, but hopefully even you don’t speak that the visuals will help.

Comment on My Introduction to Daring Bakers: Lemon Meringue Pie by sandrar

sandrar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:31:36 +0000

Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. Cheers! Sandra. R.

Comment on More About Mark by Mark

Mark — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:03:38 +0000

Hey Gary — thanks for stopping by!

It sounds like your dough isn’t relaxed enough. A little more rest during the shaping process might help with this.

Try the following process from the end of bulk fermentation:

- preshape into a rectangle
- cover and rest 15-20 minutes
- shape into a batard, and make the fendu crease with a dowel (a light dusting of flour in the crease will keep it separate)
- let rest 5 minutes before twisting into a tordu.

It might spring back a little during the proof — if that’s the case try twisting so that both ends are on the same side of the loaf and proof with those ends down on the cloth.

good luck!

Comment on More About Mark by Gary Hypes

Gary Hypes — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:45:10 +0000

Mark,

I’m trying to shape a loaf into a pain tordu, and finding surprisingly little help anywhere on the web. So far, anyway.

My recipe says to make an indentation down the log (dough) with a wooden spoon handle, then twist like I was wringing out a dish rag. My tordu doesn’t tordu — it springs back into a non-twisted form.

Am I being too gentle with the dough, or is there another technique I’m missing?

Any help/thoughts appreciated.

Comment on Am I Fiscally Conservative? Do I Want to Be? by Mark

Mark — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Thanks for the comment Dana!

Do you see a connection between people (people in government anyway) who tightly couple ‘fiscally conservative’ with ‘less government’? I do.

If a social program benefits society at large, and it can be run effectively by government, then why not raise the tax dollars to run the program? Perception these days seems to be that a dollar spent by government is waste and a dollar spent by an individual or corporation is growth (or some other good thing) Why is that?

Comment on Am I Fiscally Conservative? Do I Want to Be? by Dana

Dana — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:48:18 +0000

I don’t think “fiscally conservative” means that you don’t support any public programs. It just means that the government needs to work within its means, and not go trillions of dollars into debt.

Comment on Return to Nanaimo: It’s better already by Nanaimo: just keep driving

Nanaimo: just keep driving — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:58:20 +0000

[...] #2: OK, I stand corrected. Once you park and start walking around, it turns out that Nanaimo is a wonderful place. Thanks to [...]

Comment on Nanaimo: just keep driving by Return to Nanaimo: It’s better already

Return to Nanaimo: It’s better already — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:53:27 +0000

[...] couple weeks back I wrote a post about my first impressions of Nanaimo and frankly, they weren’t very good. I had a couple folks comment that I missed all the good [...]

Comment on Artisan II is Over! by SteveB

SteveB — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:30:41 +0000

Thanks for the look inside SFBI’s Artisan Baking I and II courses. I’ve always wanted to take these two courses and now, after reading about your experiences, I’m even more determined to do so.