'Tis the Season -- for leftovers

 

This year Bob and I celebrated Thanksgiving for two instead of in our usual extended family group.  Because of COVID advisories we have been ordering our groceries delivered to the house.  Sometimes it is necessary to choose possible alternatives and sometimes we get really bizarre substitutions.  Nevertheless, we are thankful we have this option for shopping.  We ordered a turkey, within a pound range, and ended up with 14.4 lbs instead of 10 lbs.  That made for plenty of leftovers.  However, it was okay because we both like turkey and usually have it only once or twice a year.  In addition to the traditional Thanksgiving dinner we have made sandwiches, creamed turkey on rice, and put some in the freezer. My daughter-in-law S makes a great pot pie in a 9x13 pan with biscuit topping but we thought we would to try one with regular pie crust.  I was checking out all my cookbooks and couldn't find any pot pie recipes (after the fact I found one), so yesterday I made up this one and thought I would share it with family and friends.  I think this would work well with either leftover turkey or chicken.

Turkey, vegetables and gravy in the pastry lined pie pan
 

Top crust on and baked

 

 

Half eaten and the other half for the next night's dinner.
 

 

Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie                                                        preheat oven to 425F

 

Use your favorite double pie crust recipe

Roll out and fit the bottom crust in a 9” pie pan

 

Filling:

2 cups of leftover cooked chicken or turkey, chopped to bite sized pieces

1 large carrot, cut into bite sized pieces

1 large potato, cut into bite sized pieces

2 stalks of celery, sliced

1/3 to ½ large onion, diced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon poultry seasoning

Pepper to taste

1/2 to 2/3 cup of frozen peas

1 to 1 ½ cups of leftover chicken or turkey gravy

Note:  the filling should equal approximately 4 to 5 (or 6 cups max) of combined ingredients

 

1.  Boil the cutup carrots, potatoes, celery and onion in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover for 10 min.

2.  Meanwhile, reheat leftover gravy in a small saucepan.

3.  Drain the vegetables reserving the liquid in case you need to add some to the gravy

4.  In a large bowl mix the chicken or turkey pieces with the cooked vegetables, stir in seasonings, frozen peas, and the gravy.  Add a little of the vegetable broth if necessary.

5.  Pour the mix into the prepared pie pan lined with crust.

6.  Roll out the top crust and finish the pot pie crust just as you would a fruit pie.  Be sure to put the steam vents in the top.

7.  Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 min.  Increase the temperature to 450F and bake for an additional 10 min. or until the crust is golden brown on top.