happy chanukah!

i'm not jewish, but i seem to gravitate towards jewish friends.  i've always enjoyed their culture... especially the food.  we recently had a cool couple move downstairs with their young daughter and they happen to be, that's right, jewish!  since i have so many succulents left from the wedding, i decided to give them a pot full to welcome this special night.  i was then given a gift from their daughter evie.  she drew me and nello on her new dry erase board.  it was one big circle with a smile.  awesome.

and now our non-jewish meal for the night: leftover turkey...turned into a pot pie.  my mom sent me a magazine clipping of a swanson chicken broth recipe for turkey pot pie but it was, well very middle america.  frozen veg, no fresh herbs, not a lot of imagination.  but i DID like that they used puff pastry for the top.  i took this idea and ran with it:

my motto is use what you've got.  cooking should be easy and always has room for imagination and experimentation. if flavor combos don't work together, well you won't combine those in the future!

Long Beach Leftover Turkey Pot Pie


in a large pan, saute about 2 c. frozen pearl onions (or white if you don't have pearl) with about 3 T. olive oil.  once these are starting to get some color, add a basket of sliced crimini mushrooms (trader joes). continue to saute these two, gaining more color.  add one large shallot, finely chopped, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme-leaves only and 2-3 chopped sage leaves.

while this browns, peel and thinly slice one large carrot.  also cute one large potato into small cubes...about the size of large peas. add both of these babies to the pan and season with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. you might need to deglaze the pan with some white wine if it's starting to get dried and crunchy on the boom like mine was.  plus this adds fabulous flavor. i'd say add about 3/4c.  stir occasionally and cook for about 5 min until everything in the pan is browning nicely.  lastly add your turkey to the party.  add as much or as little as you want.  we had about a cup of breast meat and about 1/2 c. of dark meat.  i cubed some, ripped some...get wild.

since we had leftover turkey gravy, i added that to the batch as well...about a ladle full or 1 cup.  i then added about 1 c. of milk, anything but non-fat will do.  you want the full flavor and consistency.  mix and cook this down until the liquid reduces by half.  wa-la!  you are done....well the "hard part" at least.

if you're wondering what's in that jar with the black liquid in the back...it's my christmas gift to friends.  i hope it's ready in time. 

let this cool a bit and transfer to a 9 in baking dish.  trader joes sells puff pastry squares in the frozen section... conveniently 9in. square! i told you this was easy.  you don't need to defrost, just rest on top of the turkey mixture, it will quickly soften.  cut an X in the middle with a knife to give this pie some room to breath!

whisk one egg and brush on top of the puff daddy.  you'll only use about a 1/4 so save the rest for breakfast tomorrow.  chop some extra thyme and sage for the top.

bake in the oven @ 400* for about 40 min or until the top is nice and golden brown.

this baby was GOOD.  like real good.  one to keep for the records for sure.  enjoy.