Serve It Up Quick

The first day of Christmas vacation ended up being my first day snowboarding of the season.  The skies were sunny and there was enough decent snow to have a great outing with the family at the local mountain where we have season passes.

Most of these days result in us spending hours on the mountain which means we wind up pulling back into our driveway at home at dinner time.  This was one of those days!

What to do for dinner?  Sometimes I am smart and prepare a dish in advance.  Today did not pass the pre-planning test.  I admit I don’t want to cook after riding.  I want to take a hot shower and wear comfy clothes and sit on the couch! (with a beer perhaps?)

So I created this super quick pot pie with ingredients I had on hand.  The weekend before Christmas, we hosted my husband’s family for dinner.  Turkey leftovers!  Once of the caveats of cooking for the holidays is feasting on the leftovers.  I love a good turkey sandwich!  I already made the stock from the turkey bones.  I had a can of refrigerated croissants that needed a purpose.  Frozen vegetables are always stocked.

Here is my recipe:

• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup frozen peas or corn, thawed
• 2 cups turkey stock (or chicken broth)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 cups cut up cooked turkey
• sprinkle of dried parsley

1. Melt butter in large pot.  Then sauté carrots and onions until tender.
2. Stir in flour, thyme, salt, and pepper and continue stirring for 2 minutes.
3. Add stock and milk all at once and whisk into the flour mixture.  Continue to whisk/stir until the liquid is thickened and bubbly.
4. Add turkey and frozen vegetables.  Stir in parsley.  Cook until all ingredients are heated through.
5. Pour into six 4-inch (in diameter) ramekin oven proof dishes.  Top each dish with a triangle of the refrigerated croissant dough.
6. Bake for 8-12 minutes in a 450 degree oven–until the dish is bubbly and the dough is golden brown.

One of the last appearances by our elf, Candy Cane. He found himself a seat at our kitchen table for the day.