Inspired Pot Pie

"INSPIRED" TURKEY POT PIE
This recipe has a fond memory behind it.  If your family is anything like ours, we make a huge turkey for Thanksgiving and then we eat turkey sandwiches, turkey manhattans, turkey and noodles, etc. etc etc.  When we've had enough turkey, the rest goes in the freezer for another day.  Well, Olivia took her's out of the freezer and made this stunning creation after eating at The Partridge and Pear Restaurant in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

The Patridge and Pear has been in Pigeon Forge for a number of years, but we had not yet tried it.  We were unable to eat there on Christmas Eve because they give that day off to their employees.  Christmas Day they were booked solid, but Olivia and her husband were able to eat there (so did I with my husband) the days after Christmas.  It was a holiday treat!  The entire restaurant is a series of rooms, each decorated in a different, elegant Christmas theme.  The room you see pictured here is the Fireside Room.  It features a beautiful lit fireplace with gorgeous mantle decorations, a huge beautiful wreath, beautifully done portraits of Santa, and a stenciled tray ceiling.  The restaurant is not entirely based upon the secular side of Christmas.  It also has an Angel Room with beautiful gold angels on the ceiling and one of perhaps the most beautiful representations of the Holy Family I have ever seen. 

The best part about this place is not the beautiful decor (although I must say I think I could live there), but the food is out of this world.  It is not the cookie cutter menu you come to expect of tourist towns, it is fresh, well prepared, and very, very good. The prices were also very reasonable.
I would highly recommend going there for breakfast.  Dinner was also superb.  When Olivia dined there, she had a chicken pot pie made with puff pastry.  It inspired the recipe she created below using the turkey in her freezer. Feel free to experiment with it--Olivia's measurements are approximate--use your imagination. This time of year is a perfect time for warm, yummy comfort food.  Try this recipe and let us know what you think!
-Nanette

Dan and Olivia at The Partridge and Pear Restaurant in Pigeon Forge, TN.

TURKEY POT PIE

• 1 sheet of frozen puffed pastry, thawed in the refrigerator overnight
• 2 cups of chopped turkey breast
• 1 medium purple onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Kosher salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (You may add a bit more if you'd like.  This is my "secret" ingredient that isn't typically found in a pot pie recipe.)
• 2 medium potatoes, skinned and cubed
• 1 bag frozen microwavable mixed vegetables (I used a carrot, corn, green bean, and pea blend.)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1 cup turkey broth
• 1 egg, beaten

1)  Cook the frozen mixed vegetables for about four minutes in the bag in the microwave.

2)  Place potatoes in a microwavable glass dish and cover with water.  Microwave potatoes on high for about seven minutes.

3)  Open the bag of mixed vegetables and drain in a colander.  Do the same with the potatoes.

4)  In a large sauce pan with high sides, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and garlic.  Cook on low to medium heat until onions are soft.  Make sure to stir often so the garlic doesn't burn.

5)  Add the salt, pepper, thyme, and celery seed to the onion mixture.

6)  Stir in the flour and mix well to create a rue.

7)  Add the turkey broth, whipping cream, and milk to the pan.  Stir well and heat over medium heat until the sauce begins to thicken from the rue.

8)  Stir in the parmesan cheese, potatoes, vegetables, and turkey breast.

9)  Cook the mixture over low to medium heat until the potatoes begin to soften by being cooked in the sauce.

10)  Taste the sauce to see if it needs more seasoning.  Add more salt or pepper to taste if needed.

11)  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a large baking dish and pour the mixture in.

12)  Spread out the puffed pastry on a slightly floured counter to make it roughly the size of your baking dish.  Cut the puffed pastry into strips.

13)  Carefully transfer the puff pastry to the top of the baking dish and lay in a cross hatch pattern.   This is a RUSTIC pot pie, so it isn't going to look perfect, and that is OK! :)  I didn't even take the time to weave the slices, but you certainly could!   Brush the pastry with the egg to help create a golden brown hue on the baked pie.

14)  Bake your Turkey Pot Pie for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the crust is beautifully brown.  If the edges of your pastry begin to brown too quickly, put foil around the outside of the baking dish, just like you would a pie crust.

15)  Cut into the crust and spoon into bowls to serve.  Be careful, steam might be trapped beneath the yummy puff pastry.  Enjoy!

The Chicken Pot Pie from The Partridge and Pear was so beautiful.  

The puffed pastry on the top of it was easily 3 1/2 inches tall!

Here is my version of Turkey Pot Pie before being baked.
It isn't beautiful, but the top went together very quickly!

Here is my version baked.  Yes, the inside filling bubbled up and
 on top of the crust, but who cares.  It tasted divine!