Quarantine met school work (and dinner) when Madeline received this Practical Living Class assignment to make a one pot meal. We are grocery shopping only once every two weeks while sheltering-in-place and, I will confess, we were nearing the end of the second week when this assignment was coming due. We had some smoked turkey in the freezer that was leftover from Easter dinner, so that became our starting point. A different variety of veggies might have been called for under other circumstances, but Madeline worked with what we had and made the entire dish herself with just a few pointers from the peanut gallery. We thought it was so tasty that I have left the ingredients exactly as she made it and we’re giving it an A+!

Ingredients for Madeline’s Quarantine Pot Pie

  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 T. olive oil
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 1 1/2 C. mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 3/4 t. thyme
  • 1/4 C. flour
  • 2 C. leftover turkey or chicken, diced
  • 2 C. stock (chicken or turkey)
  • 1/4 C. dry sherry
  • 1/2 C. cream
  • salt and pepper to taste

Biscuit Topping:

  • 2 C. flour
  • 1 T. baking powder
  • 1/4 t. baking soda
  • 1 t. sugar
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1/2 C. butter
  • 3/4 C. buttermilk

 Instructions

STEP 1
Preheat oven to 400°. Heat olive oil and butter in a medium size oven-safe skillet over medium high heat. Add the pepper, onion and carrots and cook until they start to soften, 3 – 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the thyme, garlic and mushrooms and sauté about one minute more.

STEP 2
Sprinkle 1/4 C. flour over the veggies in the skillet and stir until you no longer see any white in the flour. Add the stock and sherry and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble. Turn the heat down to low, add the cream and stir until thoroughly mixed. Now add the cooked turkey or chicken and stir. Turn off the heat on the stove and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar so that steam can escape from the pan.

STEP 3
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt into a medium size mixing bowl. Using a pastry knife, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the buttermilk. (Note – If you do not have buttermilk, you can make it: combine 1 C. milk and 1 T. lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes. Use what you need and discard the rest.) Stir until the mixture just holds together, then knead gently on a floured surface for about 10 strokes. Roll or pat dough out to 3/4 inch thickness and cut into 2 1/2 inch biscuits.

STEP 4
Gently place biscuits in the skillet on top of the turkey and vegetable sauce. Place the entire skillet in the oven and bake until biscuits rise and brown and the filling is bubbly, about 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

Makes about 6 servings.