Dinner Journal #8
Turkey Bacon Pot Pie
1/2 turkey breast (mine was 3.75 lbs, counting the bone)
10 slices thick-cut bacon
1 large yellow onion
3 cups chopped carrots
1-1.5 cups peas
2 cans Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
4 pie crusts (frozen or your favorite recipe)
salt
pepper
garlic
Chop the turkey into 1cm or so cubes, and the onion into medium sized (maybe 1cm square?) pieces.
Take two of the pie crusts and bake them at 400F for about 5 minutes or until they start to puff and are lightly golden, then pull them out, pop any bubbles, and push them back onto your pie pans so that they are properly molded to the bottom. This pre-baking is to prevent the bottom crust from getting too soggy later. Make sure that the other 2 crusts are thawed and pliable.
Fry the bacon in a saute pan or large cast-iron skillet until it is cooked, but not super crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it on paper towels to dry, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. Add the turkey pieces to the pan, frying them in the bacon grease. While they are cooking, cut or tear the bacon slices into small chunks, certainly no bigger than the pieces of onion. When the turkey is about half cooked, add the onion and carrot to the pan, frying them with the turkey. Add a good bit of garlic and black pepper to this mixture, along with a little salt, and stir frequently. Once the turkey is fully cooked, reduce the heat to medium and add the two cans of cream of mushroom soup, stirring it into the juice that should be on the bottom of the pan. If you need to add a little water to make the soup manageable, go ahead, but be sparing. You want this to be about as thick as a nice heavy gravy. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer. Taste it occasionally, and adjust the spicing to your tastes.
Once the carrots have softened (you don't want them mushy, just not very hard), add in the peas. Let it cook for maybe a minute, no more, and then remove from the heat. Spoon the mixture into the two cooked pie crusts until they are full, then place the two uncooked crusts on top of them. Mash the raw crust into the edges of the cooked crust until the two crusts join, creating a sort of seal around the edge. Cut off any excess crust (you don't want anything over the edge of the pie pan) and use the excess to patch any holes in the top crust. Once the top is solid, press the tines of a fork along the lip of the crust, creating a nice scalloped effect. Use a knife to cut a few slits in the top (I like 6 slits radially out from the center, but that's just because it looks like a cartoon pie to me - all that matters is that the inside of the pie can vent).
Make sure your oven is at 400F, then put the first pie in. Bake it for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden brown, then remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Repeat with the second pie.
Guten Appetit!
1/2 turkey breast (mine was 3.75 lbs, counting the bone)
10 slices thick-cut bacon
1 large yellow onion
3 cups chopped carrots
1-1.5 cups peas
2 cans Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
4 pie crusts (frozen or your favorite recipe)
salt
pepper
garlic
Chop the turkey into 1cm or so cubes, and the onion into medium sized (maybe 1cm square?) pieces.
Take two of the pie crusts and bake them at 400F for about 5 minutes or until they start to puff and are lightly golden, then pull them out, pop any bubbles, and push them back onto your pie pans so that they are properly molded to the bottom. This pre-baking is to prevent the bottom crust from getting too soggy later. Make sure that the other 2 crusts are thawed and pliable.
Fry the bacon in a saute pan or large cast-iron skillet until it is cooked, but not super crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it on paper towels to dry, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. Add the turkey pieces to the pan, frying them in the bacon grease. While they are cooking, cut or tear the bacon slices into small chunks, certainly no bigger than the pieces of onion. When the turkey is about half cooked, add the onion and carrot to the pan, frying them with the turkey. Add a good bit of garlic and black pepper to this mixture, along with a little salt, and stir frequently. Once the turkey is fully cooked, reduce the heat to medium and add the two cans of cream of mushroom soup, stirring it into the juice that should be on the bottom of the pan. If you need to add a little water to make the soup manageable, go ahead, but be sparing. You want this to be about as thick as a nice heavy gravy. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer. Taste it occasionally, and adjust the spicing to your tastes.
Once the carrots have softened (you don't want them mushy, just not very hard), add in the peas. Let it cook for maybe a minute, no more, and then remove from the heat. Spoon the mixture into the two cooked pie crusts until they are full, then place the two uncooked crusts on top of them. Mash the raw crust into the edges of the cooked crust until the two crusts join, creating a sort of seal around the edge. Cut off any excess crust (you don't want anything over the edge of the pie pan) and use the excess to patch any holes in the top crust. Once the top is solid, press the tines of a fork along the lip of the crust, creating a nice scalloped effect. Use a knife to cut a few slits in the top (I like 6 slits radially out from the center, but that's just because it looks like a cartoon pie to me - all that matters is that the inside of the pie can vent).
Make sure your oven is at 400F, then put the first pie in. Bake it for 20-25 minutes until the crust is golden brown, then remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Repeat with the second pie.
Guten Appetit!