Perfect Leftovers Pie!

Once again, thanks so much to the ladies at the Really Real Housewives of America for having me post on their blog today. I would like to wish them, and all of you, the very best for a Happy New Year. I personally am hoping for better things in 2017. This last year was not a great one.

Here’s hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was good to you. If you don’t actually celebrate Christmas, I hope your holidays were great too.  I am not sorry it’s all over but we seem to forget from year to year all the effort and worry we put into the season. I know some of the “Housewives” don’t bother too much with Christmas dinner and serve pizza and at least one friend served salmon for their main dish of the day. I am an old traditionalist though and I have to have my turkey. (Nope not my turkey in the picture, I forgot to take a pic).

However, discussing the whole issue with our guests we discovered that our favourite Chinese restaurant is open on Christmas Day. They do serve turkey at Christmas time so maybe we will plan to go there next year. I know I was exhausted by the end of the day even thought a lot of cooking had been done in the days before. I even cheated and bought a Christmas pudding imported from England’s Marks and Spencers. Previously we have always had home made. I was fascinated to discover the ingredients included vegetable suet which I have never tried, don’t even know if we can get it here. It is a much healthier option than beef suet.

I don’t know how many of you still have leftovers by now (I have a stack of turkey), but I was watching The Great British Bakeoff last week and thought this pie was fabulous. Mind you, Paul Hollywood went to a lot of trouble decorating the pastry even if he called it a rough puff pastry. I am afraid I would cheat and use bought puff pastry. If you don’t have a pie funnel to let out the steam, we used to use an upside down egg cup to hold up the pastry and cut a few small splits in the pastry itself. I also may well make this without the pastry.

Leftover Turkey & Ham Pie

Pastry
400 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
pinch of salt
65 g chilled butter
160 g frozen butter
150-180 ml  cold water

For the filling
45 g butter
2 large leeks, washed & roughly sliced
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
50 ml medium sherry
3 Tbs plain flour
500 ml chicken stock (or 250ml left over gravy & 250ml stock)
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
200 ml single cream
650 g left over turkey meat, cut into bite size pieces
250 g left over ham, cut into bite size pieces
2 Tbs tarragon, roughly chopped
salt and white pepper
1 beaten egg to glaze

1. For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together. Rub in the 65g chilled butter. Gradually add enough water to form a dough.

2. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle.

3. Grate 60g of frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold down the top third and fold up the top third as if folding a letter.

4. Turn 90 degrees and roll out again. Repeat adding the remaining frozen butter and fold as before. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.

5. For the filling, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the leeks to the pan with the orange juice, zest and sherry. Cover and cook gently for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the leeks are just tender. Remove the lid and increase the heat, reduce the liquid until you are left with a few spoons of the buttery liquid. Sprinkle the flour over the leeks and stir to mix evenly. Gradually add the stock, simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Add the mustard, turkey and ham and stir. Finally add the tarragon and cream. Season to taste with a little white pepper and salt.

6. Place a pie funnel in the center of a 1.2 /1.5 liter (1 1/2 quart) pie dish. Pour the pie filling and sauce into the dish and allow to cool.

7. Preheat the oven to 375F. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Cut a 2cm strip of pastry. Brush the rim of the pie dish with egg wash, then place the pastry strip onto the rim, brush this with egg wash. Cut the remaining pastry a little larger than the dish. Position the lid over the filling; make a steam hole to expose the funnel. Press the edges to seal then trim away any excess. Re-roll any trimmings and make decorations. Brush the pastry with egg wash, arrange any decorations on top of the pie and brush these with egg too.

8. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden, allow to cool slightly before serving. 6 Servings.

Author: Paul Hollywood
Source: The Great British Baking Show

Author Notes: This recipe contains U.K. measurements and may require conversions to U.S. measurements. It has also not been professionally tested.

Have a great day.