Turkey Pot Pie

Today was a "learning day" in the kitchen. Or maybe it was just a "remembering day"... regardless, something wonderful was made, but mistakes came in full force as I remembered a few of the key parts of working on a new recipe.

Back to the recipe.

It's always the challenge post-holiday to find something to do with all of the left-overs from the "big meal" the day before. Thanksgiving this year brought some unusual challenges for our family this year. We had friends over, who didn't take any of the turkey or sides home. So our family was left with tons of turkey. My mom mentioned something about pot pie and when I got in the car to head home I had two big bags and a list of things I wanted to try.

First up - Turkey Pot Pie. I've of course had my share of pre-made pot pies over the years, but I was determined to give this a try. Plus, I had my new Cuisinart to try and a homemade crust was first on the docket.

Here's the thing about the recipe. It's actually pretty easy. Nothing too tough to put together. But, it's the steps involved that threw me off this time around. You need to be prepared. And I made a few mistakes along the way (which I'll describe as I go through the directions so you won't fall in the same trap!). But you would think at this point in my year + of cooking in this house I would have realized that my rolling pin is too big for my counter. And rolling out the dough was something I couldn't do right next to the pan of hot food. Hmmm... next time.

Feel free to add your own veggies, or use a prepared crust. As always I encourage you to have fun with this - it isn't all about making every last item from scratch, but enjoying it with the people you love.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs chopped fresh sage
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter slightly cooler than room temp
1 8oz. package of cream cheese at room temp

Filling:
6 cups of chicken/turkey stock (prepared in advance)
3 carrots, peeled, chopped into 1/2 pieces
1 large potato, chopped into 1/2 pieces
1 cup of peas, thawed
4 to 5 cups of turkey, chopped into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch dice
5 tbs. butter
3 leeks, thinly sliced - light green and white parts only
2 large shallots, chopped fine
1 tbs. fresh chopped thyme
1 tbs. fresh chopped sage
1 tbs. fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and sage. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse together until a ball of dough forms.

Remove from the bowl and place on plastic wrap, forming it into a disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Have a few bowls ready for the cut veggies to come in the next step and the stock.

Prepare a 11 by 13 inch baking dish - butter the inside of the dish. The dish should hold about 3 1/2 to 4 quarts to fit this recipe. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium to large size pot heat the stock/broth and add the carrots and potatoes. Cook until tender (about 10 minutes).

Remove the vegetables and place them into the prepared baking dish. Strain the stock into a separate bowl and set aside. Add the peas to the baking dish. Add the chopped turkey to the baking dish and mix everything together.

Meanwhile, in the same pot used to heat the stock and vegetables, melt the butter and saute the leeks and shallots, thyme, sage and rosemary until the leeks are tender - about 8 minutes. Be careful not to burn the leeks.

Add the flour and mix well into the leek mixture, cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add 4 cups of the stock (more isn't better here - trust me) and bring the mixture to a boil. Add salt and pepper to season the sauce. About 1 tsp of each is a good place to start, but consider adding more since this is all you have added so far. Add the cream and bring back to a boil. The gravy is done when the sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon well. This process will take about 4-5 minutes at the very most.

Pour sauce over the meat and vegetables. Mix everything together.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a rectangle that will fit over the pan. Casually fold over the dough sealing in the filling below. It's okay for this to look messy. It's a rustic dish after all.

Place the pan in the oven for 45 minute to 1 hour until the crust has baked. I suggest putting a baking sheet lined with tin foil below the pan so if you have anything drip out (as I did) it doesn't burn on the bottom of the oven (like mine did).

Remove from the oven and let stand for about 10 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!

Notes: I really suggest having everything prepared for this before you start. You've got a lot going on with pots/bowls/etc. so make your life a little easier.

Oh, and more stock isn't your friend. If you have a ton of the sauce it is just going to bubble up and leak out of the pan into your oven. And if it is as cold at your house as it is at mine, you don't want the windows open to air out the kitchen when things start smoking.