Fabulous Pot Pie - Finally!!

I love to bake. I've never really been a pie maker, though. I'm just intimidated by it, I guess. Pumpkin pies on store-bought pie crusts at Thanksgiving are the only pies I've made - and they don't really count since they're not "from scratch."

I also love to cook for my family. I've been trying to figure out how to make a fabulous pot pie. My favorite is turkey. I've made a couple of different recipes but none my family really liked -- until just recently. I compiled two different recipes (one for the crust and one for the filling) and it was a hit! To convert this recipe to other meats would be super easy. For chicken, you'd use shredded chicken and chicken gravy. For beef, shredded beef and beef gravy. You get the picture. Anyway, here are the recipes:

Never Fail Pie Crust (from AllRecipes.com)

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups butter flavored shortening
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, shortening, sugar and salt.
2. Add ice water, vinegar and egg. Beat to combine.
3. Either press into pans or roll out.
   

Makes 2 pie crusts, or as much as 4 if you roll it out fairly thin. *Roll out the extra pie crusts, layer them with wax paper in between and freeze them on a cookie sheet. When frozen, seal tightly in a large zip-bag for next time. :)

Leftover Pot Pie (from AllRecipes.com)

• 2 cups leftover turkey, chopped or shredded
• 2 cups turkey gravy or turkey stock
  
• 2 cups mixed vegetables
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie shells
  
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
• 1/4 cup water (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. If you are using stock, bring the stock to a boil. Add cornstarch to cold water, and blend until smooth; whisk into stock to thicken.
3. Line a 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Mix turkey and vegetables together, and place in pie crust. Pour gravy or thickened stock over turkey and vegetables. Cover with remaining pie crust. Cut slits in the top to release steam.
4. Place pot pie on a cookie sheet to prevent stock from over flowing into your oven. Cook in center of oven until crust is golden brown, approximately 1 hour. Slice, and serve hot.

I used about 2/3 of the pie crust dough, but could have rolled it a bit thinner and gotten four crusts out of it. With the filling, I just used canned gravy and omitted the cornstarch. I did add pinch or two of flour, however, to thicken the filling a bit. Next time I might use a little less gravy so the filling is thicker.

Yum!!