We Have a Winner! February Savory Recipe Contest

As most of you may already know, the winning recipe is Vegetarian Pasties with Gravy! What you don't know yet is who submitted it... Congratulations to Eric from the Dynamic Baking Duo. Thanks Eric for submitting your recipe! You will receive a copy of Savory Baking by Mary Cech shortly.

Thanks everyone for participating in our first Recipe Contest! I hope to have a couple more throughout the year. For the month of February, I encourage you to try Eric's recipe and post about it anytime later this month. If you want another challenge more on the sweet side, I have posted another recipe for the month of February. Check it out below, and Happy Baking to all of you!

Vegetarian Pasties with Gravy

For the Pasties

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup shortening

1 cup cold water

½ c. green peas

½ c. cooked lentils

1 onion, chopped

½ c. rutabaga, cubed

1 carrot, diced

salt and pepper to taste

6 tablespoons margarine

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

2. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, combine vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Divide dough into six pieces, and shape into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6 inch round. Place approximately 1 cup filling on one half of each. Dot each with 1 tablespoon margarine. Draw the other half of the pastry over the filling. Crimp edges to seal in filling. Prick with a fork and place on prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.

For the Gravy

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup chopped onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened. Serve the pasties hot with gravy over the top

Sweets For those of you who want to make something sweet for your sweet on Valentines... or want to prepare for the new craze before it explodes (which a friend of mine and I schemed up way before the New York Times ever did...) you can make a Mini Pie! That's right, Mini Pies are going to make it big. They are currently being referred to as the "new cupcake" and our dear friend Martha and her army of bakers is not far behind.


The best thing about a mini pie (besides it being so cute) is that you can give them as individual gifts, or packaged as wedding favors, or just eat one at a time yourself. They are fun to make too. I made some long long ago when I started a pretend bakery at an art gallery for the weekend. Make them in tiny pie tins, large muffin tins, or flat in a puff pastry shell. Whatever you end up making, be sure to enjoy it and share a new recipe with us!

 Lemon Meringue - Martha Stewart

Mini Berry Pie - Martha Stewart