LEFTOVER TURKEY RECIPES - SOUTHERN TURKEY POT PIE RECIPE

For those of you left with some turkey, I thought I'd share my leftover turkey recipes. Not that I mind the occasional sliced turkey sandwich, but I have a low tolerance for one after the other. I can change the kind of bread that is used. I can substitute condiments that I would normally not reach for. But no matter how you sliced and dice it; a sandwich is a sandwich.

SOUTHERN STYLE TURKEY POT PIE RECIPE


21 and a half ounces of leftover broth right out of the turkey roaster or 2 10 3/4 oz. cans of chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 half tsp. white or black pepper (southern cooks don't care)
2 cups of raw cubed potatoes (peels on or off is up to you)
1 16 ounce package of mixed vegetables or 16 ounces of leftover green peas, string beans and carrots (did you think this was a leftover turkey recipe that would leave you stuck with pans of unused vegetables?)
1 stalk of chopped celery
3 tablespoons of oleo or butter
3 tablespoons of plain, all purpose flour
3 cups of cubed, luscious leftover turkey
4 sliced hard boiled eggs
1 deep dish 9 inch pie crust

Pour broth, bay leaf and pepper into a big boiler and bring to a rolling boil. Add potatoes and allow to return to a boil before reducing heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes. After that time, add celery and mixed vegetables (if you opted for frozen, if not you can wait 10 minutes as they are already cooked) and return to boil and cook for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaf, drain vegetables while reserving the broth.

Melt butter in dutch oven or large skillet. Add flour and stir until mix is smooth. Cook 1 minute while stirring constantly. Begin to gradually add broth stirring all the time until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Stir in your drained vegetables, cubed turkey and sliced boiled eggs.

Put the mixture into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish and cover it with your pie crust. Trim the edges of the crust, flute the edges and seal. To give your dish a unique and fancy look, cut the trimmed pieces of crust into leaves or shapes to make your leftover turkey recipe into something that will impress the kids.

Layer your shapes on top of the crust. Cut slits in the pastry crust and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the top is browned and filling is hot and bubbly.

You should be able to serve least six hungry people with this quick and easy leftover turkey recipe.



So, I came up some leftover turkey recipes like the one above that are filled with creative ways to use even the smallest pieces of breast meat that will appeal to families that are used to good, southern cooking. Some are best suited for white meat and others will give you a place to use the meat from the leg and thigh. I would advise you to use the most attractive pieces for casseroles and save the shreds for soups. I give this recommendation because of appearance, not taste. Presentation is a large part of getting the best out of the holiday bird and extending your grocery budget. Even the most attractive won't cut it as acceptable for your holiday party or mesh with the most basic baby shower recipes or decorations. But they are tasty, very cheap and easy to make as you have most of the ingrediants there and they are already cooked!

Camouflaging the turkey in your dishes may be the most crucial part of the process. The last thing you want is for your family members to get wise to your money saving, penny pinching practices and start to voice their protests. It's no fun to spend hours cooking a tasty recipe only to get comments on how they are sick of eating turkey rather than the favorable reviews that you were hoping for. Kids just don't get how important good leftover turkey recipes are or how to make good use of what you have until they are grown and faced with grocery budgets of their own.