The bird that keeps on giving

Through a series of seemingly unrelated events during the week preceding Thanksgiving, I ended up with a 15-pound frozen turkey that quickly took up residence in my refrigerator. Fortunately, I had already agreed to host the T-Day party, so it made it even easier that the bird remained in my kitchen. Unfortunately, my party only consisted of 4 people (including me), so a 15-pound bird was closer to overkill than horn of plenty.

The turkey tasted delicious (thanks in part to a special spice blend I picked up at the Union Square Christmas Market...and an entire stick of butter shoved into the bird's various cavities), as did the eight million side dishes my friends and I cooked up (never doubt a transplanted Midwesterner's ability to completely overdo it in the casserole department). It was a lovely day had by all, good food, good wine, good friends, etc. etc. But now on to the important part:

The Leftovers.

15 pounds of fowl, even after wrapped up in Ziplock containers and sent home with the other guests, still makes for a lot of extra food. So what does a pie blogger do in such a situation? She makes pies!

Turkey Pot Pies, to be exact.

And here is the recipe:

Filling
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 cup corn (canned or frozen, doesn't matter)
***Feel free to add/subtract any other vegetables,  those are just what I prefer
1 cup turkey stock
2 heaping tbsp flour
1-2 healthy splashes of white wine
1 cup chopped turkey (white or dark meat, whichever is still left in your fridge!)
Spices to taste - I suggest salt/pepper/thyme/rosemary/paprika, but remember that your turkey is already flavored, so don't overdo it

Pie Crust
I used a frozen, pre made pie crust (Pillsbury), which I personally think is just fine if you don't have the time to make a homemade crust.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On the stove top, begin by melting the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the carrots and scallions, and caramelize until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add turkey stock, white wine, flour and spices, and stir continuously over low heat. This will create a roux (thickening mixture), and is what gives the inside of the pot pie that light-colored and creamy consistency. The more flour you add and the longer you cook your mixture is what determines how thick your roux is; I like a thicker sauce so my measurements are based on my preferences, feel free to use less flour and/or less stirring time (it's not an exact science).

When your mixture is almost at it's desired consistency, add the turkey and corn (both ingredients are already cooked), and stir everything together.

Scoop the mixture into a pie plate (I discovered that a heavy-bottomed (ceramic) pie plate works best) and cover with your pie crust, making sure to pinch the edges to seal the crust.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden brown

(I ended up making two smaller pot pies due to having a dinner guest, and we had some extra dough from the frozen pie crust, so we embellished a little).

Enjoy!

A Weekend of Thanks

It's Thanksgiving Weekend (who says T-Day has to be just a day? Not I.) and I'm actually still too full to contemplate eating any more food, let alone making or trying anything pie related. BUT never fear - I still have a fridge full of food (3 words: 15-pound-turkey) and will be making some delicious leftover creations. Until then, however, I leave you with two pictures of the pies we got to eat this past Thursday.

Pumpkin Pie Supreme - the secret ingredient is...a cup and a half of spiced rum

When in doubt (and traveling) bring a Moon Pie

Some explanation: the first pie is a Pumpkin Pie Supreme, homemade by one of my dinner guests.

The second pie is a Moon Pie. Yes, a Moon Pie. Why, you ask? Well, I'd like to say that my friends and I have a long-standing tradition of taking one moon pie and cutting it into so many pieces that it feeds the entire party and then some, reminding us of the selfless giving that the first settlers and the Native Americans showed each other so many years ago. In actuality, one of my guests was from out of town and didn't land at LaGuardia until about 20 minutes before the turkey came out of the oven, and decided to contribute the only pie that meets TSA travel regulations.

 All-in-all, I hope everybody had (and is still having) and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with friends, family, good food, beautiful weather, and as always, delicious pies.

Happy Thanksgiving from Macy's Balloon Blowing Up!

A Sad Day in Pie Land

(unfortunate) Apple Cheddar Pie at Hill Country Chicken

While spending far too much time trying to get from Point A to Point B the other day, I decided that what my journey really needed was a Pie Break. Luckily, I was right in front of a restaurant I'd been meaning to try when my stomach reminded me that woman cannot live on coffee alone.

Hill Country Chicken (located in Manhattan's Flatiron District) boasts authentic Texas-style home cooking (fried chicken, barbecue) along with an extensive pie list, and is one of those places that always seems to get a mention on lists of New York's top pie places. Hmmm. Either they have a really good publicist or I caught them on a really "off" day. While I'd like to believe that they truly do serve fantastic chicken and live up to their slogan of being a "Fresh Fried Chicken Joint," I did not come for their chicken or their barbecue (and, being someone who doesn't actually love fried chicken, would be a terrible critic on that particular subject.) I came for pie.

It started out with mild promise. They had a giant sign listing about seven or eight "Pies of the Day," but I only saw three different pies in the display case when I walked up to the counter. They weren't labeled, but after learning they were cherry, coconut cream, and pumpkin pies, I tried to order a slice of cherry (Double Cherry with Streusel Topping, to be exact). The server then told me that only pumpkin was being served by the slice, the other two were being held as full pies. While I love a good pumpkin pie, I knew that I would be eating plenty of that this coming Thanksgiving (one of my invited guests makes a mean pumpkin pie - T-Day pics to come) and had gone in search of anything but pumpkin pie, so I headed for the door.

Luckily (or so I thought), I spotted a second display case near the register, and noticed some mini pies that turned out to be for individual sale. I decided upon the apple cheddar (full name: Classic Apple Pie With Cheddar Lattice Crust) because, hey - I like apples, I like cheddar, I should love this pie!

Red Flag #1: The server put the pie in a to-go container, I said "oh I'll eat it here," she shrugged and handed me the to-go container.

Red Flag #2: The server didn't ask if I wanted my pie to be heated.

Dear Food Service Workers Everywhere: People want the option of their fruit pies heated. I know it pains you to go all the way into the back of the kitchen where the microwave is inconveniently kept, and I know you'll endure an awkward conversation with the cook staff while you wait for 1 minute and 30 seconds while the pie is being heated, and I know you'll run the risk of bumping in to your manager who'll again ask if you can work this Friday night, but please, offer to heat the pie. It's like an intrinsic need within people to eat warm pie on a cold day. It makes people happier.

Red Flag #3: The server didn't ask if I wanted something to drink, which I did, but couldn't think about due to fluster caused by Red Flags 1 & 2. While fishing for my plastic fork at the condiments counter (and realizing I might have overestimated the level of classy this place had to offer) I saw they had an impressive offering of old fashioned sodas and a few micro-brewed beers I had never heard of, one or both of which I might have tried had someone attempted to sell me a drink.

Oh, right. The Pie Itself.

Well, it looked good. There was a cute little star-shaped biscuit on top. That was a nice touch.

Unfortunately, said five-pointed embellishment was doughy and not worth my time. Nor was the rest of the pie, which had a slightly rubbery top crust, a slightly more rubbery bottom crust, and gritty, cheap-tasting apples inside. Let's just say I had a much better time taking photos of the pie with a new app I downloaded for my phone (still love my phone) than I did actually consuming the pie.

Granted, the entire dessert cost about $3, which isn't much in the grand scheme of life. However, there are a bajillion bakeries in the city that serve beautiful little pastries, cookies, candies, cupcakes, truffles, mini-donughts, scones and muffins for right around $3 each. The snack bar has been set high, and it's the duty of every restaurant that offers a quick dessert option to meet, and then hopefully surpass that bar in both taste and service.

On my way out of the restaurant I noticed a sign reminding customers to "order your Thanksgiving pies." I feel for anyone who has to spend a holiday with these pies, and look forward to my Thursday of wonderful homemade goodness.