In which the author shares a recipe for turkey pot pie... Or, "Will run for food."
Fact:
Some runs are harder than others. We’ve all had those days were the
miles clip off with little effort. Last Sunday’s was not one of those
days. What was to be a nice 14mi LSD (that’s a long, slow distance run
in Runner’s World nomenclature)
turned into a battle to finish. Not even the adorable 12-week old
English Bulldog called Lulu could make it totally bearable.
Now,
I’m no weather girl, but any runner learns how to dress for certain
conditions. The temp was 46F with 10mph winds and partial cloud cover.
Right. About 100m into the first bridge of the course, I nearly lost my
hat... and, more importantly, my breath. The headwind felt like a
constant, swirling gust of shards of glass slicing through my lungs and
chest. No matter where I turned, the wind seemed to morph into a wall
intent on slowing me down.
With
each laborious breath came increased pain in my chest, I cut my run a
mile short (taking the rest nice and easy until my heart rate finally
recovered). I met my husband at the YMCA to stretch and do weights and
learned that he also had problems with the conditions. We were cold and
tired and needed some serious comfort food. My husband - albeit
sheepishly due to my fatigue - mentioned doing a pot pie. Sold.
 |
| No, we didn't eat it straight from the pan. But that was mostly out of respect for Le Creuset. |
Typically,
I refuse to buy pie crust or puff pastry (unless I’m in a serious
bind). There’s something so fun about getting into a big bowl of butter
and flour and working it together just like my French ancestors did.
It’s a soothing, methodical and incredibly satisfying technique that’s
been passed down from generation to generation. I would hate to swap out
its simplicity for some expensive packet of preservative-filled
concoction.
I
like to flavor my dough when possible, so I used some powdered mustard
and sharp cheddar to compliment the leftover Thanksgiving turkey and
gravy we froze and used for this. It’s a flexible recipe (the cheese and
herb/spice idea came from this Epicurious gem),
and I’ve had great luck with a number of sweet and savory additions. I
loaded this up with veggies and - to my husband’s joy - saved half of
the crust for another pot pie.
Crust:
2 sticks cold butter, cut into small cubes
2 ½ cups AP flour
6+ tablespoons ice water (median figure - how much you use depends on the day)
2 teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon salt (I like sea or kosher salt; you may elect to add more depending on your palate and the sharpness of the cheese)
6 good cranks of black pepper (optional)
Butter, butter spray or egg wash for top
Using
the coldest butter that you can work with, mix the butter and flour
into a food processor or large bowl. If using a food processor, blitz
the mixture until uniform bits form in a coarse sand/ small pea-sized
consistency. If using hands (the way I learned), work quickly and with
cold hands to rub the butter into the flour until the aforementioned
mixture forms. You’ll likely have to toss the mixture intermittently to
ensure that there aren’t big clumps. Pastry cutters also work well for
this process. In all cases, add ice water - tablespoon by tablespoon -
and mix until a dough forms. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and
refrigerate for at least a half an hour.
Since I only needed a top crust, I wrapped half in plastic and froze it to use later.
Filling:
About a pound of turkey (I had a packet of leftovers from Thanksgiving that I defrosted)
2 cups peas (I used frozen)
2 cups carrots, diced or cut into pieces approximately the size of peas (I had leftover baby carrots)
1 clove minced garlic
Mustard
White wine
Worcester sauce
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Black pepper
Salt
Flour
Chop carrots and turkey into pieces slightly larger than the vegetables. Set aside in separate bowls.
Preheat over to 375F.
Saute
carrots in a cup of white wine until they become slightly soft. Add
mustard, black pepper and any spices you like to taste. Simmer for 5
minutes. (You can pull the carrots at this point if it’s easier to work
with just the liquid for the time being.) If you have any leftover
turkey gravy in the freezer like I did, add 2-3 tablespoons to add
richness and flavor (a small knob of butter might also work) and melt
into mixture. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of flour into pan, stirring
constantly, allowing the sauce to thicken. Add peas (and carrots if you
removed them) and turkey to pan. Allow to simmer, adding a few dashes of
Worcester sauce, salt and/or other flavors to taste, if desired.
Transfer mixture to pan.
While
the mixture is simmering, remove dough from refrigerator and roll out
to the size of the pie pan. When mixture is completed and added to pan,
carefully place the crust atop the pan, cutting off excess dough from
sides (it is not necessary to pinch the corners, as there is no bottom
crust). Cut small venting holes into crust and brush egg wash, butter or
apply butter spray to the top of the crust.
Place
pie pan onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes. If desired, raise
heat to 400F for additional time to further brown crust.
After removing, allow to stand for at least 10 minutes. Then, grab a spoon and enjoy (in moderation)!
