When Life Gives You Leftovers

If ever there was a day made for indulgence, Thanksgiving is that day. It's an entire holiday that revolves around a single meal of enormous proportions. In my world, that is a Great Day. Thank you, Pilgrims! Thank you, Native Americans! Thank you, big stupid turkeys, for being so delicious!

I have one goal for Thanksgiving day: Eat until I have to be rolled away from the table. In fact, I'm thinking about just eating in an office chair, so I can be wheeled out easier. Or maybe I can move the whole thing into bed, that way I can just lie down and fall into a food coma.

But more important than the meal, slightly less important than the giving of thanks, are the leftovers. The day after Thanksgiving, people all across America are thinking 'what the hell am I going to do with all this meat?'. Turkeys are bigass birds.

Turkey soup, turkey tetrazzini, turkey enchiladas, turkey sandwich after turkey sandwich. Then there's my favorite, turkey pot pie. This is the recipe I use with chicken all year round, and it is amazing. It is turkeylicious. It is gobbletastic. I strongly suggest you make two, and freeze one before baking. Then you'll have it handy when you start craving it.

It is fantastic comfort food.

Southern Fried Turkeyriffic Pot Pie

Ingredients
1 recipe double crust pie or 2 refrigerated pie crusts
About 2 1/2 C cooked turkey, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 C chicken broth
1 small onion, diced
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (alternately, 2 ribs celery, chopped, 2 carrots diced, 1 bag frozen peas)
4 T unsalted butter
1/2 C unbleached, AP flour
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme (or oregano)
3 T dry sherry (do not leave this out!)

Put chopped turkey in a large bowl. Preheat oven to 425. Unroll and place 1 crust in the bottom of a 9" pie plate. Saute onion in a medium skillet in 2 T vegetable oil until soft. Add frozen vegetables and cook over medium heat until warmed through and season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove vegetables from skillet and add to bowl with turkey. Return skillet to stove and melt 4 T butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir to incorporate; cook 1 minute. Whisk in broth, milk, and thyme. Remove from heat and stir in sherry. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Add mixture to bowl with turkey and vegetables and stir gently to mix well.

Place mixture in bottom crust. Top with second crust, crimping or fluting edges to seal. Cut 4-5 small slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Come back and thank me.