This is probably the first day of the winter break (ie.  my time off) that I have not gone out of the house.  We all slept in this morning.  It seems that a series of late nights and lots of family visits, presents, food, skating, events, etc. has left us all exhausted.  Even kid #2, at 4 years of age, slept in until 9 a.m. this morning.  That's sayin' something.
So far this holiday, and I'm quite proud of myself for this, I have been keeping up with running and yoga faithfully.  This morning was no exception.  It was yoga day so instead of doing a morning session it ended up being a 'brunch' session.  No problem.  Not like I had anything else to do today.  Beautiful.
We completely unplugged.  It's awesome.  I highly recommend.
Down side:
We still have to eat.  After making all kinds of crazy cookies, scalloped potatoes, roasted veggies for the various christmas dinners AND having people over to eat... well, we're cleaned out.  Nothing.  Nada.
Once again, I'm proud of myself here.  We did not order in.  I made this...


Let's just say that leftover turkey from my Mom's turkey dinner and some frozen cooked chicken that I gleaned off of chicken that had been used for chicken broth came in really handy.  Some veggies, a little pastry and *shizaam*  it appeared.  Well, almost.
Look, if you decide that your leftover turkey needs to be stewed and tucked under some pastry I wouldn't blame you one bit if you opted to purchase some ready made puff pastry and use that.  Let's just  be honest here:
a.  I was wearing yoga gear and hadn't showered.
b.  I was too damn lazy to go buy some even had I been perfectly clean.
Also, I used some broth that I made a couple of weeks ago (I save my chicken carcasses and use them for broth - please be impressed.  Thank You) but by no means is it necessary.  Store bought broth or chicken bouillion cubes dissolved in water would do just fine.  Make sure that you do some good tasting along the way just in case the flavours aren't quite strong enough though.


So, if you are looking for something kinda homey and comfort foodish.  If you are a little sick of turkey sandwiches.  If you aren't looking at each other before a meal saying: 'If I eat turkey one more time, I'm gonna...'  Well then, maybe you could give this a whirl.  Otherwise... pick up the phone... you know the number.


Turkey and Chicken Pot Pie
serves 4 - 6

4 cups turkey/chicken, cooked and cut into smallish pieces
4 cups bouillion or stock
1/4 cup milk or cream
1/4 cup flour
1 med onion, diced
2 med potato, diced
2 med carrot, diced
2 med parsnips, diced
2 cups green beans (or frozen peas if it works better for you), cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp thyme
dash pepper sauce
dash nutmeg
salt to taste

crust:

1 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 cup cold butter, diced into cubes
dash salt
4 tbsp cold water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat a large pot and with some oil, saute the onion, potato, carrot, parsnip and green beans. Saute over medium heat until the veggies (especially the carrot and parsnip) are softened a bit.  Lower the heat and add in the garlic and swish around for a few minutes.  Add in the turkey or chicken and swish that around for a few minutes.  Things should look pretty colourful at this point.


Throw in the Worcestershire, Soy Sauce, sugar, thyme, pepper sauce, nutmeg and salt.  Let that mix with everything for a minute and then add in the bouillion.  Stir well and let it come to a low simmer.
In a small bowl, mix together the milk and flour until it forms a thick paste.  If you need extra flour, don't hesitate to throw a little extra in there.  Once the paste is smooth and the pot is gently simmering, add in the paste to the pot and mix well.  Allow the whole thing to simmer gently for about 5 minutes or until it all thickens slightly.  Set aside.
Crust:
In a large bowl place the flour, salt and the cubed butter.  Using a pastry cutter or a fork (that's all it got!) combine the two together until it's a coarse crumb.   Add the cold water a tbsp at a time mixing well until the dough can form a ball.
Roll out onto a lightly floured surface.  (You only have to roll it out enough to cover the baking dish that you are going to use.  I used a round dish so if you are using a larger baking dish you might want to double the recipe.)

Place the turkey mixture into a baking dish (I used a 9 inch round) and cover with the rolled out pastry - tucking the edges up the sides of the dish.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until the crust looks golden and crunchy.  Like the top of a pie... right???
Remove from oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before serving.