Quick Fix for Thanksgiving Leftovers

This year my family cooked a 20 lb. turkey for Thanksgiving. In previous years we would purchase a smaller bird and end up with leftover meat for only one extra meal. This year we decided to get a larger bird, thus ensuring more leftovers! This turkey was a beauty! But I'm not going to lie, my arms are a bit sore from lifting it out of the oven every half hour for basting. My husband and I split the leftover meat with my family and came home with a hefty Tupperware container full of juicy, flavorful turkey. Sweet!

I found this recipe for Turkey Pot Pie and it was an instant must-have. I had all of the ingredients on hand, saving me an excursion into the evening crowds at the grocery store. I didn't have buttermilk on hand, but a friend gave me a kitchen tip: add a splash of vinegar to a cup of milk and let it stand for a bit. The milk will sour, thus ending becoming buttermilk. This meal was quick to fix and turned out so much better than I had anticipated! The biscuits were incredibly moist and buttery and paired perfectly with the creamy veggies and turkey. If you don't have turkey on hand, a few cooked chicken breasts do the job.


Turkey Pot Pie
Recipe from Ziploc.com

Serves: 4

Filling Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stock, sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups leftover mixed vegetables
2 cups cooked turkey, cubed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Biscuit Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2-2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons fresh sage, chopped

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For filling: Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add onion and celery and cook about 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in flour. Slowly add chicken broth. Increase heat to medium and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and add turkey and mixed vegetables. Stir in thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour into a 2 qt. casserole dish (a 1.5 qt. worked for me).


For biscuit topping: In a food processor combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add sage and pulse a couple more times.


Gradually add buttermilk through the feed tube and process until the dough just sticks together.

Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead a few times. Pat dough into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. Cut dough into 4 or 5 circles with a circle cutter or glass. Place circles on top of filling in casserole.


Bake pot pie at 400-degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.