The polar vortex has allowed me to have an additional week of Christmas break.  I have tried to use each of these cold snowy days to catch up cleaning and some additional small projects around the house. Today, I decided to attack the freezer and use some of the left over food from the holidays. I started with the left over turkey and vegetables and decided that I would combine the ingredients and make some turkey pot pies. Although I don’t eat meat, I knew that my family would enjoy some ready made meals and the left over food would not go to waste. While I was in the process of doing this, I realized that once again my beloved grandmother, Big Mom, would be with me. When I was young I looked forward to my summer stays when Big Mom  would teach me to sew, garden, can and cook. Big Mom was known as a very good cook in her community and had, for a time, owned and operated a restaurant that featured her home cooked meals. I loved listening to her soft southern drawl and watching her slow purposeful ways.  Now, on occasions such as this, her voice seems to echo somewhere in me always guiding and encouraging as I try to mimic what I heard and saw from long ago.

Big Mom did not teach me to make a pot pie, but she did teach me to make the thickening in the meat and vegetables and dough. I put them together to make this pie recipe.

You will need

Turkey (you can use left overs and/or the carcass )

Frozen Vegetables of your choice or left overs. (Big Mom’s wisdom was that carrots and celery will steal the flavor if you use too much. So, be careful with these. You may also want to stay away from high starch vegetables for this dish.) On this day I used peas, green beans, corn, and some carrots.

1 medium onion chopped

2 to 4 Tablespoons of butter

3 to 6 Tablespoons of flour

Salt and pepper

1. Put the left over turkey or carcass in a large pot and just cover the meat with water. Allow it to boil/ simmer for 2 hours.

2. Remove the meat and bones from the stock.

3. Go through the removed meat to take out fat, bones, skin, or any other parts that you do not want in your pies.

4. Pour the stock into a container.

5. Put all the vegetables and the onion into the large pot. Add just enough stock back to the pot to allow enough liquid for the vegetables to cook. (The liquid should not be above the vegetables. As they cook, they will render additional liquid.) Allow this to cook until all the vegetables are tender.

6. Add the cleaned meat to the vegetable pot and bring to a simmer.

7. At this time you will determine if there should be additional stock added or if you should remove additional liquid from the pot. The liquid should be just below the meat and vegetable mixture.

8. In a microwave safe container, melt approximately 2 to 4 tablespoons of butter.

9. Add approximately 3 to 6 tablespoons of flour to the butter and mix. This should be the consistency of paste.

10. Add the butter and flour mixture to the pot. Mix thoroughly. This should make a gravy. If your gravy is too thin, add additional butter flour mixture. If it is too thick, add additional stock.

11. Add salt and pepper to taste.

** If you plan to freeze your pie or pies, you will need to cool the above mixture before assembly with the dough.

*** The leftover turkey stock can be poured into ice cube trays and frozen. Remove the cubes and store in a plastic bag in the freezer for later use.

Dough

For one 9X9 pot pie:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

All purpose flour (enough to make a dough)

1. Mix the oil, water, and salt until it becomes cloudy. Gradually add the flour until it becomes a wet dough.

2. Pour the wet dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough about 25 times. This should be a soft firm dough. (I think of a firm dough as the consistency of play dough. So a soft firm would be a little softer than play dough. )

3. Divide the dough into two parts.

4. Roll out the first part of the dough to line the bottom and sides of your pan.

5. Fill the pan will the mixture. (Careful that the mixture is just below the rim of the pan.

6. Roll out the second half of the dough to cover the top of the pie. Pinch the edges. Prick the top using a fork in several places to allow the steam to escape during the cooking process.

7. Either wrap the pie and freeze for later or cook the pie at 425 degrees until the dough is browned and the inside is bubbly.

Enjoy.

When I was a little girl, going to Big Mom and Big Dads house meant a 6 hour drive. However, I knew that when I got there Big Mom would have cooked my favorite meal, Meatloaf and Banana Pudding. Obviously,  I was able to eat meat in those days. When I was older, I asked Big Mom to teach me to make meatloaf. I remember her making the mixture and telling me what she was doing as I frantically wrote every word she said on a piece of notebook paper. I can even remember sitting at the red snack bar. Since that day, I have made meatloaf for family and friends on many occassions. I am always asked for this recipe so here it is.

1 or 2 pounds of lean hamburger (I get my meat from a local source that allows the animals free range and practices humane killing)

1 medium onion. chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 to 1 1/2 sleeves saltine crackers

2 cans of tomatoes

1 egg

salt and pepper

Ketchup

1. Mix hamburger, egg, onion, green pepper, 1 can of tomatoes, and 1 sleeve of saltine crackers. Continue to thoroughly mix. (Big Mom’s wisdom here is that the more you mix, the better the meat loaf will taste and hold together.)

2. If the meatloaf is too wet, you can add some additional crackers. (If you use crackers that are salted you may only need about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. A little more if the crackers are not salted. Approximately 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. More if you like pepper.

3. When the meatloaf is ready, form it into a loaf shape on a pan. (You can surround the loaf with potatoes and carrots to bake as well)

4. Pour a can of tomatoes on the top of the loaf.

5. Bake at 350 for approximately an hour. This will depend on your oven so after about 45 minutes you may need to cover with aluminum foil.

6. You can remove from the oven and top with ketchup and then place it back to bake an additional few minutes.

Enjoy.