Turkey Pot Pie - RV Kitchen Recipe

What a great Thanksgiving 2012 we had in my RV kitchen! It was such a beautiful day out that I got the turkey into the crockpot and then headed out to play. I returned a little later than I'd hoped and it was time to take the bird out of the crockpot...but nothing else had been started! Yikes!

I covered the turkey breast with foil and got down to business. It took us about an hour and a half to get everything else prepared and cooked. I was a little concerned about the turkey but that was for naught. It was fabulous...moist, flavorful, and sliced like butter.

Today, like so many of us, I made a delicious turkey, cranberry and stuffing sandwich on sourdough bread with a little mayo, salt, and pepper. Devine! But also like many of us, I've got a lot of turkey leftover - even after a couple more sandwiches. Fortunately, I have an amazing, easy-peasy pot pie recipe that will make quick work out of your leftover turkey. I use all store-bought ingredients in this dish and believe me, it's a comfort food favorite recipe in my RV camper! Give it a go and let me know what you think.

Thanks for letting me join you on this wild RV ride! 

Evanne and the RVCookingShow.com gang

RV Cooking Show's Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients:

2 frozen pie crusts - pot pie needs a top crust

16 oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables (as upscale or basic as you wish)
1+ cups of chunked turkey or chicken (I use half of a rotisserie chicken if it's not turkey season)

2 T butter
2 T flour
chicken broth
1/4 c dry white wine
1/4 - 1/2 c Parmesan or Romano cheese - grated
salt and pepper to taste

How-to:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Set one pie crust out to thaw.

In a large saute pan cover frozen vegetables with water and allow to simmer until cooked. Remove from pan.

In the same pan, make a roux - melt butter, add flour, stir to combine, allow to brown. (Watch me make a roux in this year's Thanksgiving show - How to Make Gravy)

Add chicken broth. It will seize into a paste at first, continue adding until it's a thick liquid. Add white wine and allow it to bubble about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add more broth if it's thickened too much for your taste.

Add turkey or chicken and veggies to the sauce, allow to warm. Add cheese, allow to melt in.

Pour turkey or chicken/veggie/sauce mixture into frozen crust. Top with thawed crust - you'll probably have too much, trim as needed and press edges together with fork tines to make it look pretty. Cut a few vent slits on the top in an attractive pattern.

Place on a foil covered baking sheet and bake at 400 for 15 minutes then decrease heat* to 350 and bake until the edges are brown and the top is golden.

Remove, allow to cool slightly so the liquid thickens a bit and enjoy. Serve with a fresh green salad and a beverage of choice.

Cheers!

*begin baking at a higher heat to avoid a soggy bottom crust

RV Cooking Show's Thanksgiving Episode: How to Make Turkey Gravy (and very versatile roux!)

Happy Thanksgiving...and what would the big meal be without gravy?!? In this quick 2-Minute RV Kitchen Tip episode of the RV Cooking Show learn how to make gravy using a roux! Easy, delish, and down right good to know.

Who among us does not like gravy, that thick, rich, velvety liquid that graces mashed potatoes and makes everything taste even better? Unfortunately, making gravy has the reputation of being difficult and labor intensive. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The secret to making good gravy is in its foundation - the roux (pronounced "roo" - like kangaroo). Roux is cooked fat, in this case butter, and flour, browned to a particular color, thus imparting a particular flavor. This is the thickening agent in your gravy and you can control just how thick - or thin - you want to go.

And guess what? Roux isn't only for gravy. It's the base for sauces such as bechamal (white sauce), soups like New England-style corn or clam chowder - even a fantastic sauce for chicken pot pie.

So stop right there, put down the jar of gravy or the powder envelope, and spend a quick couple minutes watching this RV Cooking Show 2-Minute RV Kitchen Tip episode - How To Make Gravy.

We've also got a nifty little archive of turkey dinner episodes and recipes for your holiday pleasure:

Crockpot Turkey Breast
Gourmet Trash Can Turkey
Aunt Lucy's Stuffing
Mom's Famous Cranberry Sauce
Sweet Potato Fries

This RV Cooking Show episode is different from others we've produced - just barely over 2 minutes and all cooking, no travel talk. How do you like it? Thumbs up, down or other comments to share? Drop me a line, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Meantime, Happy Thanksgiving, RV Cooking Show friends. I wish you an abundance of people, places, and things to be grateful for this holiday season.

Evanne and the RVCookingShow.com crew