Wrong Time of Year?

Our family loves turkey. We especially love it in the "off-season" which it is easier to find smaller turkeys and often less expensive ones!  Plus, since I'm fixing it just for us, I don't have to add all the extra stuff that turns holiday meals into orgies of self-indulgence.

I fixed a 12lb turkey the traditional way.  The first night we ate turkey off the bone with vegetables (sadly, to my daughter's dismay, I did NOT make candied sweet potatoes).  After the meal I harvested every bit of usable turkey for leftovers and then rescued the carcass for turkey frame broth (more on that later).

This is what I made the second day:

TURKEY POT PIE

1 1/2 cups peeled diced sweet potatoes

2 cups broccoli florets or 1 10oz pkg frozen chopped broccoli, thawed (watch for modification on this)

1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 Tbs unsalted butter

3 Tbs cornstarch

3/4 to 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Dash of ground allspice

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 refrigerated pie crust

1 tsp all purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten with 1 Tbs water

Put the sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan.  Add water to cover, bring to a boil, and cook, covered for 4 minutes.  Add the [broccoli] and onions to the pan and cook, covered, for 1 to 2 minutes more or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.  Drain well.  Turn the vegetable mixture into a shallow oval or square 2 quart baking dish.  Stir in the turkey and parsley.

Using the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the cornstarch, rosemary, pepper and allspice.  Gradually stir in the chicken broth and wine and continue to cook, stirring, until thickened.  Pour the sauce over the turkey mixture in the baking dish and stir gently to combine.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out the pie crust, sprinkling it with the flour, to the size that will fit over the filled baking dish.  Trim the edges and press the pastry around the edges of the dish.  Cut a slash in the center of the crust as a steam vent.  Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.

Put the dish on a baking sheet [very important detail] and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Let the pie stand for 5 minutes before serving.

MY MODIFICATIONS:

I didn't have any broccoli and it just didn't sound all that great anyway, so I used chopped mushrooms, sauteing them a little to start them softening, but not making them limp and icky.  I used the pearl onions, but in the future will use a different kind because of all the comments.  Truth be told, they weren't that appealing visually or texturally.  So I'll probably chop up some sweet onion in future.

I didn't have any rosemary so I used poultry seasoning.  Worked just fine.

Here are before and after photos:

Here you can see that this FILLS the large quiche dish.
A pie plate would have worked, but been overstuffed!

Yum...want a slice?

Soon, I'll get back to low glycemic.  Just don't want to think that hard right now.  Some things going on in our schedules that make cooking by the seat of my pants a much easier prospect at present!