Curried Pot Pie

Thanksgiving is weeks away, but just thought I'd share one of my favorite things to do with leftover turkey (also works well with leftover roasted chicken). Everyone's got a favorite pot pie recipe but most are sort of bland, this one uses curry. My Mom and one of our neighbors back in the 80s came up with this one. It's been a family favorite forever.

POULTRY POT PIE

1pkg – 2 round Pie Crusts (like the pillsbury ones)
1 quart chicken stock
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can evaporated milk
2-3 cups cooked chicken or turkey, diced
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen bagged veggies (i.e. corn/peas/carrots/green beans)

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Melt butter in medium sauce pan; sauté garlic and onion until limp. Add the flour and whisk together forming a roux. Add the curry powder, garlic powder, and chicken stock and whisk until thickened. Add the evaporated milk. Keep sauce warm.

In a large bowl, combine poultry meat and frozen veggies. Pour two cups of sauce over the meat/veggies and mix well. Place one pie crust into a 9” glass pie plate. Poke holes in bottom and sides of crust. Pour in pie filling. Cover with the second pie crust and crimp edges to seal. Cut slits in top of pie crust for venting while baking.

Place pie on cookie sheet in the middle of oven and bake at 450 for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes prior to serving. Serve with additional warm sauce.

shepherd's pie

Last night we had a nice fall dinner, I had ground turkey and wanted to do something in casserole format with it. Shepherd's Pie came to mind. Found this recipe on allrecipes, then tweaked it to my liking :)

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
serves 6

Ingredients
cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced 1 1/2 inches thick & cooked (or I used one bag of OreIda steam & mash redskins)
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
salt and garlic pepper, to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Pam
1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
garlic, to taste
white pepper, to taste
dried chives, to taste
garlic pepper, to taste
2 (1 ounce) packages instant turkey gravy mix
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 (16 ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2.Mash potatoes with milk, butter, Parmesan & salt/garlic pepper.
3.Heat large skillet sprayed with Pam over medium high heat. Cook and stir turkey and onion until turkey is fully cooked. Add spices, tomato paste, gravy mix and broth; stir often, until gravy is thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper & spices.
4.Add turkey mixture to the baking dish. Next, layer the peas and carrots, and top with the mashed potatoes. Top with a layer of grated cheese. and bake 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melted, the dish is heated through, and the potatoes are golden on the top.

Crockpot Lasagna

This was from a cookbook my Mom worked on right before she passed away. It was for the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce, so I doubt I will be arrested for copyright infringement for sharing it with you. It originally called for 12oz cottage cheese (gross) so I sub ricotta. You can change it back to cottage if you prefer.

Crockpot Lasagna

ingredients:
1 1lb of ground turkey or beef
1 medium onion, chopped (I used a couple shakes of dried minced onion, and a few tsp of minced garlic)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce, approx 26 oz. (I used a 3lb jar of Prego)
15oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
12 oz lasagna noodles (not cooked)
12 oz shredded mozzarella (reserve 1/2 cup)

Brown meat and onion (and garlic) in skillet. Drain off fat. Add spaghetti sauce (and I added additional spices) and simmer for 5-10 minutes. If sauce is too thick add about 1/2cup of water to thin it (I did). In a separate bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese (reserving 1/2 cup) and the egg (I also threw in pesto here). Mix thoroughly. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add 2 layers of uncooked lasagna noodles (broken into pieces to make them fit). Top with cheese mixture, then sauce, then 2 layers of noodles, then cheese, then the remaining sauce. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup of mozzarella on very top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for approx 3 hours.