Leftovers need rebranding. Can we consider leftovers to be more like heightened ingredients? Super-ingredients that give us a headstart toward another meal. Uber-ingredients that are a crunchtimer’s dream. Ultra-ingredients that make miracle meals out of real food in minutes. No, they’re not leftovers at all. They’re mealstarters. Mealstarters that turn mash potatoes into potato-leek soup, stuffing into croutons, cranberry salad into smoothies, squash into soup, gravy into, well gravy turns into fat butts so that doesn’t work, but you get the picture. Now, picture your Thanksgiving turkey as a mealstarter for turkey pot pie. Pot pie that barely slices into your time. Barely slices into your time. Turkey Pot Pie. (is my Scandal binge-viewing showing? Maybe I need a “leader of the free world” reference).
If you have a secret stash of puff pastry in your fridge or a crafty pie pastry recipe plus a previously cooked bird- you can make this family pleasing meal right now. It takes only a few basic ingredients.
We need something oniony, carroty, herby and pea-y. Equal parts butter & flour to form a roux, and a measure of chicken broth.
A smattering of cream adds richness and sin.
Layer on a puff pastry. Decorate. Decorate like you’re leader of the free world. And bake. The aroma of baked puff pastry alone will convince your family it tastes delicious.
A fresh meal made possible by Thanksgiving turkey and our ingenious, almost scandalous, reinvention.
Bonus Breakfast Fixer – rollout pastry scraps into a rectangle. Slice dough into small rectangles, brush on egg wash and bake according to package directions. When cooled, slather on Nutella and thinly sliced strawberries (jam or other fruit will do). Save for morning when you sleep in a few extra minutes.
basic turkey pot pie
preptime: 15 minutes 2 servings
baketime: 60 minutes
1 tsp + 2 Tbsp butter + butter for greasing crocks
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onions (sliced/washed leeks, whole pearls, yellow/white)
2 Tbsp flour
1.5 – 2 cups chicken broth or homemade turkey stock
2 cups cubed cooked turkey meat
1/4 cup peas – use fresh or frozen (thaw under hot running water)
1-2 Tbsp cream (optional)
2 Tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried herbs (parsley & thyme)
salt & pepper to taste
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 egg
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Prepare two oven-proof individual baking crocks by coating with butter.
- Lay out puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Use a crock as a guide to cut out two circles on the pastry. Carve out pieces for decoration. Set aside.
- Melt 1 tsp butter in medium saute pan.
- Add carrots and onions (if using frozen pearl onions, do not sauté). Cook about 5-7 minutes until softened.
- While vegetables cook, melt the remaining butter in a medium-sized pot on medium-low heat
- Add flour and cook 1 minute until consistency of thick sand and slightly brown – do not burn.
- Whisk in about 1/4 cup chicken broth to blend in the flour mixture. No need to measure. You’re incorporating the liquid without causing lumps from the flour. Whisk about half of the remaining broth in until blended and then the remaining amount. Turn up the heat to medium-high and cook until thickened, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
- Add salt & pepper and when sauce is the consistency and flavor you desire, add peas and turkey.
- Add cream, then herbs, combine and pour into two prepared baking crocks.
- Lay a pastry circle over the top of each filling. Crimp the edges. Cut 3 or 4 vents. Top with pasty decorations.
- Beat egg and brush onto the pastry.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Adjust according to your oven and dish sizes.
crunchtimewarp:
- grab pre-chopped vegetables from your grocer’s salad bar
- use dried herbs
- can be made a day in advance or frozen for later
- go to Marie Callender’s (no don’t)
recipe provided by your friends at crunchtimefood.com
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