Turkey Pot Pie With Cheddar Biscuit Crust

We have had leftover turkey sitting around in the freezer since Thanksgiving and it was high time that we got around to using it. I love a good pot pie, so when I ran across this recipe I was a happy girl. The Robber was less enthusiastic... but you know how he is. He comes around when confronted with the actuality of the delicious dish. I wasn't as in to the cheesy biscuit crust, but the Robber chomped on it and peeled off and ate the extra cheese, so it looks like we're stuck with it. Although if I make this again I think I'll go unhealthy and use white flour, the wheat is just too ponderous. This isn't interesting from a spice perspective, but it is warm and hearty and feels comforting, just like a pot pie should.

I made this in my geranium pot, which did just fine in the oven.

From Gourmet Magazine via a Hint of Honey:

http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2009/11/turkey-pot-pie-with-cheddar-biscuit.html

Ingredients:

For the filling:

4 C. roasted turkey meat, cut into small pieces

3 1/2 C. turkey stock (I just used chicken stock)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

1-2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, diced

1/2 tsp. dried thyme (or 1 tsp. fresh)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

8 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (omitted these)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

10 oz. frozen baby peas, thawed (used the whole 16 oz. bag)

For the crust:

2 C. whole wheat pastry flour (white whole wheat or all-purpose can be used)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1- 1 1/2 C. extra-sharp Cheddar, grated

1/2 C. Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 1/4 C. well-shaken buttermilk

Directions:

1. To make the filling, cook onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, and thyme in butter with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 12-inch-wide shallow pot (3- to 4-quart), over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, uncovered, stirring, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. (Maybe I didn't chop the potatoes small enough? But I had to cook everything, covered, for much longer before they softened enough.)

2. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in stock, scraping up any brown bits, and bring to a boil, stirring, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in turkey, peas, and salt and pepper to taste. At this point it can be refrigerated and reheated over low heat just before topping with biscuit crust. (Because my vegetables took longer, I mixed up the crust while they were cooking and was ready to go to the oven as soon as the veggies were done.)

3. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

4. To make the biscuits, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Add cheeses and toss to coat. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until a dough forms. Drop biscuit dough onto filling in large mounds, leaving spaces between biscuits.

5. Bake in preheated oven until biscuits are puffed and golden brown and filling is bubbling, 25 to 35 minutes. (You can sprinkle extra Cheddar cheese on top for the last few minutes of baking.) Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: Serves 8.

Cajun Chicken

Another recipe from kt-recipe-box.blogspot.com. This recipe is one her father, the illustrious D.T., uses and as he is a fine cook, I decided to invest in this recipe for lunchtime eating at school when the Robber is here which proved to be a wise choice.

The recipe is solidly good and appropriate for many occasions, especially if you are feeding a crowd, but it wasn't-- in the end-- exciting for me. Hmmmm. I wonder why. I didn't use lemon pepper or black pepper, so maybe it had less zing? Maybe I expect too much zing out of everything?

I ended up with one big container that we ate and one that I froze for later. You could easily half it and end up with enough.

Ingredients:

16 ounces linguine pasta
4 green onion, chopped
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
3 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
8 tablespoons butter
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 green bell peppers, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
16 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Note from D.T.: I have to do the final cooking in two batches as my skillet is not large enough to hold all of it...

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

2. Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in bowl-toss to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).

3. Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.

4 Add the sour cream, basil, lemon pepper, garlic and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Cauliflower Marranca

From the Moosewood. I made this recipe for a Sunday linner with friends. We ate it with sauteed zucchini and fresh bread and cubed watermelon. Delicious for the humid, slightly cool Rochester day.

Ingredients:

1 lbs. mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, chopped

1 large head cauliflower in flower pieces

3 cups cooked brown rice or millet

2 1/2 cups grated cheese of your choice (I used 1/2 sharp cheddar and 1/2 pepper jack)

Directions:

1) Cook the rice.

2) Saute onion and mushroom in butter with juice of one lemon

3) Saute cauliflower with 3 cloves crushed with garlic, basil, salt and pepper

4) Combine everything. Bake, covered, 1/2 hour at 350F.

Serves 5-6.

Personal note: I want this dish to have sliced red bell pepper and paprika. I also would use the pepper jack cheese again, and did as S. (who helped me make this dish did) and leave out some of the mushrooms and cauliflower and put them on the top of the stirred mixture in the dish to create a more vegetably layer.

I think this dish would also work well for a winter evening.