Edmund wasn’t feeling terribly well today, and certainly not up to eating the spicy leftovers of pulled pork from the other night, so I made a pot pie with turkey leftovers and a mashed potato crust (basically a shepherd’s pie, but then who herds turkeys, right?) I got the proportions from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything (a really, really useful resource for cooking-by-method rather than cooking-by-instruction) and I used what I had on hand. (Recipe after the cut.)
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) butter
- 1 cup (250 mL) of onion-family vegetables, chopped: I used 1 clove garlic, half a large shallot I had left, and topped off with chopped green onions for colour.
- 2 cups (500 mL) chopped vegetables: I used carrots and bellpeppers but mushrooms, green beans or peas are good too. Again, I like a mix of colours.
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) flour
- 2 tsp (10 mL) of a mix of your favourite herbs; half of it sage is really good, but I was out so I used savoury, marjoram and tarragon.
- Salt, pepper
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups (375 to 500 mL) turkey stock; mine was very rich so I used the smaller quantity
- 3 cups (750 mL) diced turkey meat; this was the meat I plucked from the carcass after making the turkey stock the other day, mostly brown meat, and it still had a lot of flavour. No waste!
Mashed Potato Crust
- 2-3 large potatoes, cut in 3 cm pieces
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) butter
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) milk
Preparation
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 F. Start the kettle to boil your water. Peel and chop the potatoes; put them with the garlic cloves and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan, pour enough hot water to cook in, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer.
- Melt the butter in a large high-sided skillet while you chop the vegetables. Cook the vegetables (start with the onions and carrots) for 5 minutes while you chop the turkey; add the softer vegetables a couple of minutes in.
- Stir in the flour and cook until it turns a nice blond colour; add the herbs and cook another minute. Pour in the broth and bring to a gentle boil; turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer and reduce while you check the potatoes.
- Add the turkey to the sauce and let it warm up while you drain and mash the potatoes and garlic together. Add butter and milk to the potatoes and mix well. Check and adjust seasoning in both the turkey filling and the potatoes.
- Put the turkey as a layer at the bottom of a greased casserole. Pat down with the spoon, then spread the mashed potatoes as a top layer over this. Cook in the oven for 50 minutes or until the top looks nice and golden.
The Reef 