The other night, I was baking a sheet of puff pastry for a veggie-topped refrigerator pizza. Time got away from me, and I got the puff pastry out of the oven just as the bottom started to burn. Not wanting to throw the base of dinner away, and also not wanting to eat semi-burned food, I had to think of a way to get rid of the bottom of the burned crust. My successful solution, after the jump…I got out one of my top-five kitchen tools, the microplane. I have a very long, very sharp microplane, and it was the perfect tool to cure my puff pastry’s burn. I simply slid the sheet of pastry on its side and literally shaved off the burned parts with the microplane. Because the microplane was sharp, I didn’t have to apply much pressure at all, and the burned parts came right off, leaving the edible sheet in tact. It felt like woodshop in my kitchen, and was immensely fun and simple.
You can use this on any type of baked good to rescue barely-burnt muffins, breads, or cookies from the trash can. Try it out next time you have an absentminded moment away from the oven.
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Kelli Best-Oliver
A former high school teacher, I'm currently a part-time writer/full-time doctoral student at the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities, studying leadership in education from a critical pedagogy perspective along with public policy. On the green side, I'm interested in local food and agriculture (Iowa girl, born and raised), sustainability education, DIY projects, and grassroots activism. I'm slowly turning my South City, St Louis home into an urban farmstead. On the hoping-to-be-greener side, I love reading, yoga, soccer, music, backpacking, knitting, pop culture and trivia, my Tuesday Night Dinner Club, traveling, Guitar Hero, dive bars, and sitting on front porches with my husband and a cold beer. I came to Green Options via a post on Sustainablog,working the St Louis angle to get Jeff to let me in. I have a personal blog chronicling (what else?) life in South St. Louis. Follow me on Twitter!
3 Responses to Thrifty Thursdays: Burn Treatment
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As one who ate said veggie pizza, though it was a little on the crunchy side, I had no clue she burnt it until she told me after dinner. It was a delicious meal!
Wow Mark! Tough critic! I thought it was a very innovative idea. I will remember it for the next time I burn something, which will probably be soon!
i bet it still was dry and overcooked