Edible Encores

One of my favorite meals of the year is the turkey sandwich I make the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Today I’ll pile sliced whole wheat bread with the delicious, freshly sliced meat,  avocado, Boston lettuce, sliced tomato, plenty of Anglesey salt and pepper and tons of mayonnaise. If I’m feeling ambitious I’ll also tuck in a bit of the baked cranberry sauce I make for the two traditional feasts.

The big bird appears in Act III tonight. That production number – by the popular demand of my family --is a pot pie adapted from Diane Phillips’ user-friendly cookbook, “Pot Pies: Comfort Food Under Cover.” 

Here’s the recipe (and a photo from CleanFoodConnection.com, purveyor of  all-natural, organic food products to tantalize your tastebuds).

OLD-FASHIONED TURKEY POT PIE (adapted from Phillips’ “Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie with Chive Mashed Potato Crust”)

Serves 4 to 6

4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup finely chopped onion
5 tablespoons flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup carrots, cut roughly into ¼ inch dice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage or ½ teaspoon dried
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup frozen and defrosted petite peas
½ - 1 cup other leftover vegetables, diced (optional)
2 cups cooked turkey

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the onion for a few minutes, until it begins to soften. Add the flour and whisk until it bubbles. Gradually whisk in the broth, stirring until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the carrots, salt, pepper and sage, stirring until the sauce begins to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the milk, peas, any other vegetables (bits of cooked turnips, rutabagas or winter squash are delicious) and turkey, simmering for another 3 minutes.

From here you can pour the mixture into one round gratin dish (about 9” diameter,  2” deep), and top with a piece of refrigerated pie crust (I like the rolled Pillsbury crusts available in most supermarkets).  Trim the edges, crimp the crust, make a few slashes on the top dough, and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Or you can line a large gratin dish or 4 to 6 small, individual aluminum foil pie tins with refrigerated pie crust, prick with a fork and bake for five minutes.  Then add the turkey mixture to each dish, top with pie crust, trim edges, crimp, and make a few slashes on the top to release steam. (Some cooks skip the pre-baking of the bottom crust…I feel that step ensures a flakier bottom crust in the final product.)

Bake the pie/pies at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Comments

[Alice Q. Foodie]

That sounds delicious Maureen! We didn't have any leftovers for our faux thanksgiving, but next time we cook one we might.