The Post-Christmas Fridge and Freezer Clean: Part II

Sunday, January 01, 2012

At some point during the holidays, I get tired of the left over roast beast and various side dishes that crowd the refrigerator.  As nice as it is to take a break from cooking, the desire to make something new and different wakes me out of my lethargy and compels me to pull out utensils other than a spoon to scoop something out of the tupperware. Feeling replenished from either sleeping in or taking such an extended break from cooking (perhaps both), I took it up again with an ambitious project: the turkey pot pie.

Pot pies may seem like classic comfort food, but they require a great deal of preparation, particularly if you make every element from scratch.  And it is my feeling that if you are going to bother, then you should bother with the whole thing, pastry crust and all.  So, working from this recipe, I fashioned a pot pie from Christmas turkey, long-harbored root vegetables in my vegetable bin, and one of the many containers of turkey stock (made after Thanksgiving) still cramming my freezer.  Now, having claimed to make the entire pot pie from scratch, let me hedge that by admitting I rarely make a pot pie and never do so in the space of a single day.  On day one, I prepare the filling and make the pastry crust.  On day two, I make the roux and assemble and bake the pie.  This both reduces the workload considerably and prevents me from rushing to use the pastry dough before it’s chilled. 

In this instance, I made substitutions and adjustments based on what I had on hand.  First, and of least consequence, I substituted turkey for chicken.  Second, rather than use pearl onions, I opted for leeks.  I generally prefer the milder taste and silky texture of the leeks, and because they are sliced rather than whole, they integrate more uniformly with the other elements.  Third, I never care for the peas, so I just omit them altogether, increasing the other vegetables by a small amount to compensate; I also omit the Tabasco here as it just seems silly (though I might try a bit of horseradish one of these days).  Fourth, rather than potatoes, I used parsnips I had long been neglecting.  There is something slightly acidic (not to mention the faint taste of vanilla) to them that complements the sweet carrots and cuts through the bland richness of the roux.  Fifth, as with any recipe, I used local Daisy Flour.  Rather than the white all-purpose flour in the roux, I used white spelt flour.  Rather than the white all-purpose flour in the pastry, I used whole-wheat pastry flour.  Additionally, I used all butter instead of the mix of butter and shortening in the pastry; had I any lard (available at the Fair Food Farmstand), I would have substituted that for the shortening.

The end result was certainly worth the effort.  Best enjoyed with a good local ale.  My favorite is Stoudt’s Scarlet Lady Ale.

P.S. To make yet another meal, I simmered the excess pie filling in additional stock and topped with these cornmeal dumplings.  Also best enjoyed with a good local ale.