One Thanksgiving, the smallest turkey I could get from my favorite meat supplier in Preble was 28 pounds. We called him Goliath.
Now, Goliath was meant to feed three people and even if one was a teenager, clearly the one pound-per-person guideline had just gone out the window. I took my largest knife, split Goliath down the middle and froze half of him to roast around February.
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First step toward Thanksgiving dinner: Thaw the bird. Here's how.
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Still, I had 14 or so pounds of turkey and three people. This is great. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers.
Turkey hash, turkey soup, turkey tetrazzini. Turkey shepherd’s pie, turkey and gravy over noodles — good eats for half a month.
Including this turkey pot pie. There’s no trick to it. In fact, you can use leftover vegetables and gravy in the filling, if you’ve got them.
In essence, this recipe is similar to a chicken pot pie, but where one might flavor a chicken pie with bay or maybe turmeric, turkey — at least leftover Thanksgiving turkey — plays nicely with sage and thyme.
The recipe scales to fit whatever dish you can make it in. I typically use a large casserole, but you can use a simple pie pan, too. Really, it’s just making a sauce around the rest of the filling, then tossing a pie crust over the top.
The result is great for work chow or a night of leftovers in front of the TV, perhaps watching “White Christmas” or “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
And, if you get a 28- or 30-pound bird (I’ve seen a 40-pounder.), you can do it all over again in February.
TURKEY POT PIE
Crust for 10-inch, two-crust pie
4 Tbs. butter, divided
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 potatoes, cubed
2 cups cooked turkey, cut up
1 cup peas
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 cup turkey stock
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out bottom pie crust and line pan.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion, celery, carrots, thyme, sage and salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are soft. Add peas, and stock. Bring to a boil, add potatoes and cook until tender.
Melt the remaining butter in a medium sauce pan, Stir in the flour to make a roux. Add the milk slowly. Then add turkey. Combine with vegetables and cook until thickened.
Pour the filling into the pie shell, and top with remaining crust. Cut slits to vent steam and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes more, until crust is golden brown.
Play with it: Carrots, peas, celery and potato are pretty standard but consider what leftover veggies you have. Roasted squash, turnip or rutabaga, if that’s what you made for Thanksgiving, are good additions. Mushrooms are always good. Think about whatever you like with gravy.
