Buttery herb biscuit, turkey pot pie, in a mushroom, veggie, gravy rich turkey combo, will make you forget it’s leftovers.
Turkey
Here in America, turkey always takes centerstage in the month of November as nearly everyone, no matter what their ethnic heritage is or cooking cuisine originated from, makes a turkey for Thanksgiving.
Turkey is a spectacular meat, not only because of its massive size for a bird, but because it offers so much variety for anyone who loves to eat poultry. Lots and lots of white meat and more than plenty dark meat.
What part of the turkey is your favorite? It seems those who prefer the breast, will turn their nose up at the thigh, and visa versa. But what about when it comes to leftovers, you know, the cooked turkey that has been in the fridge a few days?
Leftover Turkey
Freshly roasted turkey meat tastes spectacular, no matter dark or light meat, but often the white meat dries out quickly when it becomes bumped down to leftovers. Well, not exactly. It is still yummy on a sandwich with a schmear of mayo and a stack of tomatoes!
What about turkey the rest of the year? I often purchase a small turkey throughout the winter and slow simmer the entire bird in a huge pot with lots of herbs for stocks, soups, and a variety of other turkey dishes I will make with the turkey meat.
While roasting is the popular way to prepare turkey during the holiday season, simmering the meat in a bath, low and slow, makes the meat so tender it literally falls off the bone.
Stews, soups, pot pies, sandwiches and a huge variety of meals can be made from one afternoon set aside to cook this turkey meat and separate it into various bundles for other meals.
A favorite dish of mine is a Mediterranean twist I created for this very American bird: Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, with barley, nuts and dried fruits. Make sure to save this recipe for the week after Thanksgiving!
Turkey Pot Pie
Another favorite dish of mine for leftover turkey meat, probably a favorite of yours too, is a pot pie. Everyone who makes a pot pie has their own favorite twist as to what pastry they like best on top.
As for me, I prefer a pot pie covered with lots of little herb biscuits that when the fork goes in, the piping hot gravy simmered veggies and turkey, releases the steam and scent of all the aromatic herbs that went into making the turkey, stock, gravy and biscuits.
Cooking With Herbs
While I have a huge herb garden throughout the summer, of which I dry my herbs in the autumn to enjoy them throughout the winter, I often find I’ve given away most of my dried herb collection by January.
Let’s be honest about food, without an aromatic profile of herbs in our food, most food items would have very little flavor. We rely on a variety, or perhaps specific herbs to bring out the flavor of what we are cooking.
Dried Herbs
If I am to purchase dried herbs or an herb blend, it better be darn good and have the intensity I know my freshly dried herbs have.
Of course, a company that makes it’s spices in small batches and with TLC, will be best!
I had the honor and pleasure to meet just such a man who is producing the best small batch herb blends I’ve ever encountered and I would love to introduce you to him and the flavors he takes great pride in producing:
Brian Leigh, known as B.T. Leigh. We shared in the wildest experience, cooking for a television show that will be released in summer of 2022. You will have the chance then to laugh at our continuous banter and enjoy his utterly awesome cooking style.
Herb Biscuits Make Everything Better
Biscuits? Did you say you were putting biscuits on top of your pot pie? Absolutely! I made the biscuits from scratch, using flour, baking powder, butter, buttermilk and Somethin to Cluck About spice blend from B.T.Leigh’s.
Tossing everything into the mixer, rolling out the dough and cutting the little rounds only took about 10-minutes but was worth the extra step, instead of using a store-bought pastry.
Turkey Leftover’s With Gravy
Since I had plenty of herb infused stock from cooking the turkey, I whipped up a quick gravy for the pot pie. The stock was already flavorful so I needed only to whisk a little butter and flour in a hot pan, pour the hot stock in and whisk until a velvety gravy came together.
The Making Of A Pot Pie
All the components for a pot pie were set out on the countertop: turkey cut into cubes, mushrooms sliced, peas and freshly blanched carrots were ready, hot gravy, and the biscuits pressed and ready to go.
Into a mixing bowl went all the ingredients that I would put into the pot pie. An additional sprinkle of Somethin To Cluck About gets folded in the mix and the individual claypots each got a helping of pot pie filling.
Biscuits get placed on top of the filling, brushed with a little milk and another sprinkle of Somethin To Cluck About goes on top and into the oven it goes. In 20-25 minutes a scrumptious meal is ready to serve!
Ingredients Needed
- Cooked Turkey
- Carrots
- Peas
- Mushrooms
- Potatoes
- Poultry spice blend
- Salt
- Turkey stock
- Butter
- Flour
- Buttermilk
- Baking powder
Equipment Needed
- Stock pot with lid
- Saucepan
- Rolling pin
- Large mixing bowl
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Biscuit press
- Slotted spoon
- Whisk
- Individual crock bowls
- Basting brush
- Stovetop or burner
- Oven
Herb Turkey Biscuit Pot Pie (Turkey Leftovers)
Ingredients
- Cooked Turkey – 2 cups
- Carrots – 1 cup, cubed and blanched
- Peas – 1 cup
- Mushrooms – 1 cup, sliced
- Potato – 1 1/2 cups, peeled, cubed, blanched
- Poultry spice blend – 1 tsp
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Turkey stock – 2 cups, more or less
- Butter – 2 tbsp for gravy
- Flour – 2 tbsp for gravy
- Poultry spice blend – 1 tsp for gravy
- Flour – 2 1/2 cups for biscuits, more for rolling
- Cold Butter – 8 tbsp
- Buttermilk – 1 cup, more for brushing
- Baking powder – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp
- Poultry spice blend – 1/2 tsp, more for dusting
Instructions
- Bring turkey stock to a simmer. Drop in the cubed potatoes and carrots just long enough to blanch, but not over cook. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cubed turkey, blanched potatoes, carrots, peas and chopped mushrooms. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, melt 2 tbsp of butter with 2 tbsp of flour, slowly pour in the warm stock, whisking out the lumps until the gravy is smooth. Continue to cook a few minutes while stirring until the gravy is not too thick and not watery. Add the gravy to the mixing bowl of ingredients. Sprinkle in 1 tsp of poultry blend and gently mix. Salt as needed.
- Preheat oven to 375
- In a food processor place the cold butter, flour, baking powder, salt and poultry blend and pulse several times.
- With the machine running, slowly pour in the buttermilk until the dough comes together in a ball. Add more flour if needed to make the dough not sticky.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Press rounds with a biscuit/cookie cutter.
- Place equal amounts of turkey filling into individual baking bowls. Place biscuits on top of the filling. Brush the biscuits with buttermilk and sprinkle a little poultry seasoning on top.
- Bake until biscuits are golden. About 20-25 minutes. Serve
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
