HappyTummy              

Is it strange that I didn’t grow up on pot pies? You always hear about chicken pot pie being such a comfort food…I actually never had one until I was in college. Pies were always considered a sweet in our home, never a savory. But I’ve always been fascinated by them. It’s like the perfect, self-contained meal, with your protein of choice, vegetables and carbs. Not to mention the creamy goodness that bubbles inside and spills over when you crack in to the crust.

As I’ve written about before, B loves his comfort foods. And pot pie is no exception. When I found these cute little individual pie dishes, I knew I had to try making a pot pie. And since I had a lot of leftover turkey from Turkey Day, you know this was the perfect opportunity to test it out!

I think pot pies are one of those foods where the bulk of the dish–meat and veggies–are just not as important as they may be in other dishes. What makes pot pies so delicious, really, is 1, the crust, and 2, the creamy sauce. If you have a great crust and a great sauce, it really doesn’t matter what you put in the pie!

For the filling, I opted for a creamy, dill-based sauce. I think dill and poultry go hand in hand. And with the mild flavors of peas, corn, leeks and celery, dill is the perfect herb to brighten up the flavor.

I wanted to make a crust that would be crispy and flaky, but also hefty enough to hold the creamy filling without getting soggy. I found a great King Arthur recipe for a whole wheat crust–I just omitted the sugar from the recipe, since it was originally for a blueberry pie.

You can only eat so many turkey sandwiches and bowls of turkey soup before you get sick of Thanksgiving leftovers. This turkey pot pie was such a welcome change to standard leftover fare. Yes, making dough from scratch wouldn’t qualify this dish as a quick-fix meal, but I’ll tell you–if you make a big batch of dough in advance, you could always divide it up into the perfect portions, freeze it, and just roll it out when you need it. The sauce can be made in advance too. I was quite happy with the way these turned out…B was too. He ate another one the next day!

Whole-Grain Crust
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Makes 4 4.5-inch crusts

• 1 1/2 cups (5 5/8 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 4 teaspoons buttermilk powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) cold unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) ice water

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, buttermilk powder, salt and baking powder. Cut the butter into small cubes, and work it into the dry ingredients (using your fingers, a pastry blender or fork, or a mixer) until the dough is unevenly crumbly. Sprinkle in the ice water, mixing until the dough is cohesive. Grab a handful; if it holds together willingly, and doesn’t seem at all dry or crumbly, you’ve added enough liquid.

Divide the dough roughly in quarters, making 2 quarters slightly larger than the other (these will line the bottoms of the pie plates). Shape each piece of dough into a disk. Working with one disk at a time, roll the edges along a floured work surface (as though the disk were a wheel), in order to smooth them out. Pat the disks till they’re about 1-inch thick, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 3 days.

Recipe: Turkey Pot Pie with Whole Wheat Crust
Makes 2 individual 4.5-inch pies

• 2 cups cooked turkey, cubed or shredded
• 1/2 cup sliced frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup sliced leeks
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 4 4.5-inch unbaked whole wheat pie crusts, see recipe above

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and drop in turkey, corn, peas, leeks and celery. Leave for about five minutes, then drain and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté onions in butter for about 3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Slowly add vegetable broth and milk and stir to make sure the flour doesn’t ball up. Simmer over low heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir in dill and set aside.

Roll out pie dough. Place the 2 larger dough rounds in the bottom of individual pie plates. Place the turkey and vegetables in pie crusts. Pour sauce on top. Cover with top crusts, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make small slits in the top to let steam escape.

Bake pies for 25 to minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.