Turkey Pot Pie

As I mentioned in the last post, J and I made Turkey Pot Pie for dinner with some of the turkey we still have left over from Thanksgiving.  You can of course use chicken, but the turkey was delicious.  Before I made it, J was a bit skeptical.  Even though growing up I loved the frozen variety ala Marie Callender's, he has never been much of a fan.  This recipe changed his mind!

Here's how I did it:

Turkey Pot Pie, as modified from here and here 

Ingredients:
2 carrots, chopped into approximately pea sized pieces
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup turkey breast, shredded
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas, rinsed to remove chill
1/4 cup potatoes--I had a bag of frozen baby potatoes that I heated through and added.  You are welcome to use leftovers and/or blanch pieces in water
2 tablespoons of flour
1 3/4 cup stock--I used homemade!
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed in refrigerator
1 egg
Water
Flour, for rolling out puff pastry

Kitchen Supplies:
3 quart sauce pan
Ovenproof bowls
Cookie sheet
Strainer, to rinse peas
Whisk 
Rolling pin
Pastry brush

Preheat oven at 400 degrees.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Chop onions and celery and saute for four to five minutes until translucent.  Stir in celery seed, salt, pepper and carrots.  Add flour and whisk for two minutes, allowing enough time for flour to lose the raw taste.

Meanwhile, heat stock separately on the stove over low heat.   Slowly add milk and stock, alternating between the two, and continuing to whisk the mixture.  Once combined and creamy, add peas, potatoes and shredded turkey.

Flour board or counter top, roll out puff pastry and cut into fours.  Line the bottoms of your bowls with one of the four sheets, fill with creamy mixture.  Create an egg wash with a lightly beaten egg and water.  Brush the sides of the bowl and then add another piece of puff pastry.  Press edges to the bowl (the egg wash helps the sides stick) and brush top lightly with egg wash.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cut a small vent in the middle with a paring knife.  Repeat with the other bowl.  Place both bowls on cookie sheet and bake for twenty five minutes.  Remove and serve.

Serves: 2

Enjoy!

Turkey Day Soup

As I mentioned, J and I spent Thanksgiving in Peoria this year.  Although it was not at our house, we got the leftovers--specifically the turkey carcass (bones sounds better), turkey legs and turkey wings, which I turned into soup last night!

This is a great recipe and makes a ton of turkey stock, which you can use for all sorts of things from soups to risottos.  We had enough to make soup as well as a large container of stock which we froze for later use.

As I was putting away the extra stock, I realized something: I completed number 10 on my list of 130 Before I'm Thirty since I made a stock from scratch.  Now granted the recipe I used isn't Ina Garten's and it isn't chicken stock, but it is homemade stock, which is the important part!  And since it's my list I can bend the rules a bit, can't I?!?

I think I can.

10.  Make Ina Garten's homemade chicken stock accomplished 11/29/10!

This recipe is based on a family recipe and is great for using up all those Thanksgiving Day leftovers.  We added a few ingredients to make it our own.  Please feel free to do the same!  Unfortunately, because this is a from scratch recipe, I do not have calorie count or serving size information to share.

Final note: if you have a pasta pot insert (with holes for draining) I would recommend using it for this recipe. This allows you to drain the stock pot easily, leaving the yummy stock in the pot and removing all the veggies and turkey to cool and shred.

Turkey Day Soup

Ingredients:
1 turkey carcass (ours was from a sixteen pound bird)
Turkey wings and drumsticks
4 carrots, divided
1 onion, divided
4 stalks of celery, divided
Leftover stuffing, approximately 1/2 cup
Leftover green bean casserole, approximately 1/4 cup--if you don't have any leftovers, you could always add frozen green beans
1/4 cup rice
2 cups of egg noodles
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon French Four Spice
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning


Kitchen Supplies:
Large stock pot, preferably with pasta drain insert
Cutting board
Knife
Measuring cups

In a large stock pot, place turkey bones, half of an onion (quartered), two carrot sticks and two stalks of celery.  You do not need to peel the carrots and try to use the leafy parts in the middle of the celery bunch.  If you have any leafy tops of celery, throw these in too.  Add just enough water to cover the bones and produce.  Place on stove and bring to a boil.  Reduce and let simmer for one to four hours. (I simmered mine for 1 hour 15 minutes because that's all the time that I had.)

Remove from heat.  Drain, reserving liquid.  Remove and discard carrots and celery.  Leave turkey to cool in strainer.

Set aside approximately half of the stock and freeze or refrigerate immediately to use for other meals.  


Meanwhile, peel and dice two remaining carrots, the rest of the onion and two more stalks of celery.  Saute in a small pan with some olive oil and garlic for five minutes or so, until the onions and celery soften.  Add carrots and saute another two minutes.  Return stock pot (with stock) to the stove and add carrot mixture.  Add 1 bay leaf, spices, and leftovers (stuffing and green bean casserole) to the pot.

Remove turkey from bones and discard bones.  Shred remaining turkey into large bite sized pieces.  Add to stock pot.  Add rice and pasta.  Stir and allow to come up to a boil.  Boil uncovered for twenty minutes until ingredients are combined and heated through.

Serve with warm crusty bread.

Slurp and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Dinner Line-up

Each family celebrates Thanksgiving slightly differently, so I thought I would share what will be on our menu later today! 

Image from weheartit and here originally

Turkey, of course!  We usually brine it and then stuff it with stuffing, but have tried various methods over the years.  I want to deep fry a turkey one of these years!

Stuffing.  My dad's family makes theirs with sausage, but as we are celebrating Turkey Day with my mom's parents, ours will be sans sausage.

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole.  This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, besides the turkey.  Baked in the oven with a streusel of brown sugar and pecans on top, I could eat bowls and bowls of it.  My family likes this dish so much we make it for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter!

Rolls.  Got to have warm rolls and butter!


Relish tray.  Delicious tray filled with olives, carrots, celery, pickles and raw green onions.  Nothing says holidays like a relish tray!

Pumpkin Pie.  Perfect end to a perfect meal!

Football and nap.  So it's not a food group, but it is what we usually do after we eat!

Just writing this post is making me hungry.  Pardon me while I wipe the drool off of my key board.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A Rainbow in My Clouds

Last night I was fortunate enough to see Maya Angelou speak at University of Missouri-St. Louis--thanks for the tickets Ashlee!  She was witty, funny, moving and above all inspirational.

She started her lecture with a early 20th century spiritual song which retold the story of the Great Flood in the Judeo-Christian tradition in which rainbows were set in the clouds as a promise that the rains would stop and the sun would shine.  She then reflected on people and situations that have been rainbows in the clouds in her life.  The rainbows in her clouds.

This concept, this rainbow in the clouds metaphor, struck me as a great way to express gratitude this Thanksgiving.  It is a thankfulness not only for the good things in our lives, but the bad things too, and a way at looking at them without regret, fear, pain or sorrow, but instead appreciation that without the rain, there can be no sunshine and more importantly, no rainbows.

Here is a quote from a recent lecture Ms. Angelou gave on the same theme in Louisiana that helps explain this concept further: "God puts rainbows in the clouds so that each of us-in the dreariest and most dreaded moments-can see a possibility of hope." (Source)

This got me thinking about some of the rainbows in my clouds, things that at the time were difficult and painful, but now I am glad to have experienced them.  In the spirit of thanksgiving and being grateful for what we have and what you have experienced, I thought I would share one of them with you here:

When J and I spent the first four weeks of our marriage apart.  J had a job this past summer in Omaha and because our home and my job was here, we spent the last four weeks of our engagement and the first four weeks of our marriage in different states.  We saw each other on weekends whenever we could, but it was difficult to be separated from each other when our lives together were just starting.

Looking back now, I can honestly say that I learned a lot about myself, about J and about our marriage in those eight weeks in a way that I would not have otherwise.  I learned to be patient, to communicate better, and achieved a sense of independence all while still being connected to J.  These are experiences I am thankful for, even though it meant being away from the one I love and starting out our marriage in an unconventional way.


The challenge, for me at least, is to keep looking for those rainbows when the rain is pouring down.  It's easier to see, once the rain has gone away, where those rainbows have been hiding.  Something to remember next time I start to feel the storm clouds rolling in...

What do you think?  Do Maya Angelou's words inspire you like they inspired me?  What is a rainbow in the clouds in your life?