Sunday, November 27, 2011

Turkey leftovers? My favorite = Turkey pot pie

I grew up (as many of us did) with frozen chicken/turkey pot pies from Swanson. I know, I know.....we really don't like to admit it....but we did. I can remember buying several while in college and eating them during finals week. Very comforting but.....NOT very good for me dietary wise.
I STILL love pot pies. The good news is that they are very easy to make and now with leftovers of the turkey kind.....all the ingredients are just waiting. Here's my recipe:
First - decide what kind of crust you want. Do you have flour, fat (butter, shortening, etc) and water....pie crust works wonderfully. If you have a sheet of puff pastry in your freezer (who doesn't, right?) use this. Do you have leftover potatoes? These are made to order! Since this is about leftovers...lets assume this is what we'll use.
For the filling:
Saute onion, celery, and any vegetable you have in a bit of olive oil until just brown. I love carrots so add these, diced. Have any leftover vegetables? (Squash, peas, beans, etc) add them now. Add cubed turkey and heat through. Leftover gravy? Add this now. No leftover gravy? Don't let this stop you....use chicken stock. White wine is awesome too!
Thin a bit or cook down to a nice sauce. If you want to add any frozen vegis....now is the time. Have leftover cream or half and half....add if you want, depending on your cholesterol tolerance.
When it's nice and bubbly, add to ramekins for small pies or a baking dish appropriate to how much filling you have.
Top with your topping, puff pastry, mashed potatoes, crust. I like to sprinkle with cheese, just a bit. Use what you have. Tuck in the edges. Cut slits in the top if using crust to let the steam out.
Pop into a 375 degree oven and bake until the top is golden brown. The filling is already cooked so it just needs to bubble to be ready. DON'T forget to put them on a baking sheet to collect the bubbled over filling. They can make a HUGE mess in your oven.
The best part of leftovers!
Let it cool so you can eat it. Add a salad......probably leftover too, right? Mmmmmmm!
 So, these are soooo much better than those frozen pies you have NO idea! Here's something good too......more than you can eat at one sitting? FREEZE THEM! Wrap in foil and plastic wrap and then in a zip-lock bag. JUST the thing during finals week-----again!

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