Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Turkey Pot Pie Bliss

When I was a little girl my Mom would occasionally make Swanson's chicken pot pies for dinner.



They were so good! At least as a child I thought they were good. It's been a long time since I've had one.

But Oh, chicken pot pie...mmm comfort food! All flaky crust and creamy sauce and tender chicken goodness! Oh yeah!

We would eat them off of TV trays while watching TV!

I'm joking! We didn't have TV trays. I'm not even old enough to remember TV trays.

Well, I remember my grandparents had TV trays.

Okay, so I am old enough to remember TV trays, but I'm not old enough for the cashier at the thrift store to ask me if I qualify for the store's 55 and older discount!! It happened yesterday. I'm still a little aghast! I'm only 41!!!

And moving on...

When I watched the hosts of The Chew making pot pies with leftovers from thanksgiving dinner, all of the warm, fuzzy feelings of eating those Swanson's pot pies came rushing back and I decided I had to try to make turkey pot pie with our leftover Thanksgiving turkey!


It was a very tasty turkey!

The poor Family! I didn't allowed them to eat any of the leftovers until I had made the pot pie. We didn't get a very large turkey for Thanksgiving.There were only six of us for dinner, and I didn't want too much turkey leftover. So, as not to run out of turkey before I made the pot pie, the Family had to wait. I think they felt a little tortured. It was worth the wait though!

I got the recipe from The Chew website. I used it for reference, but I didn't follow it completely. You can get the recipe by clicking here...The Chew's Turkey Pot Pie.

This is how I made my turkey pot pie.

Just like for apple pie, I used the Pillsbury ready made crust for my turkey pot pie. Easy and delicious!


I pressed one crust into the bottom of my pie plate and baked it at 375˚ for 15 minutes. I completely forgot to place a piece of parchment on the crust and fill the crust with rice or beans while it baked to prevent it from rising or bubbling. It turned out just fine, however, try to remember to do that when you bake your bottom crust!


While the crust was baking, I chopped one small onion and two large carrots.


I tossed them in a hot pot with a couple tablespoons of olive oil to saute. I then read The Chew recipe and realized that their recipe also added celery. I quickly chopped up two celery ribs and added them to the pot! I tossed in about a teaspoon of dried Thyme and a little dried Rosemary and sauteed the vegetables for about 10 minutes then I also tossed in some frozen peas to warm through.


Next time I will skip the celery. It tasted fine but I think I would prefer my pot pie without it.

Place the sauteed vegetables in a dish.


Using the same pot, I heated two jars of ready made gravy. You can make your own gravy! But when some one has already gone to the trouble to make it, and it's so good, and it was on sale for a really good price, why!?


Add some warm chicken stock to thin out the gravy and add salt and pepper to taste. The Chew recipe calls for adding heavy cream to the gravy. I intended to. I forgot! I wasn't really following the recipe that closely. I guess you could say I was kinda winging it! Pun intended! Ha ha!! 

Anyway, it was still good!

Add vegetable mixture and leftover turkey, cut into bite sized pieces, to gravy.


Pour the filling into baked pie crust. I had a little more filling than would fit in the crust.


Oh my goodness! It looked so good. It smelled so good!

Place your remaining, unbaked crust over filling. Crimp edges. Make a couple of slices in the top crust to allow steam to escape.


Bake the pot pie on a parchment lined baking sheet, in case it bubbles over, at 375˚ for 30 to 40 minutes. The crust should be golden and the filling should be bubbling.


Your crust will be nice and golden, if you remember the egg wash that is. I forgot that too! I couldn't figure out why my crust wasn't browning up very well. I kinda missed a gaggle of steps in this recipe. Sorry! I think that's the last pun I've got in me. Maybe.




However, it too didn't matter. The turkey pot pie was delicious even without a perfectly golden crust!


If you do want a perfectly golden crust, brush the top of your pot pie with a mixture of 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of milk prior to baking. Your pie will be golden and lovely!


Mmmmm turkey pot pie! Just as wonderful as I remember those Swanson's pot pies were! 



And clearly this recipe is very forgiving! You don't have to make it perfectly for it to taste really good! I'd say pretty much any turkey can make it! Nope! One more pun!!


We ate the last of the Thanksgiving mashed potatoes with this dish. So good! 


I think next time I make pot pie I will skip the bottom crust and use mashed potatoes instead.


The Family gave this dish three enthusiastic thumbs up and one it's okay. The okay came from the child who doesn't like the cooked celery and carrots. Pfft! Whatever!


Christine

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