Turkey Pot Shepherd's Pie

Take two wonderful things and stick them together.

Things I like better about chicken pot pie than shepherd's pie:
1. It's made with chicken, not beef
2. There's a sweeter, lighter taste from the gravy, and you can even make it creamy if you want
3. It's made from leftovers, so there's less work involved

Things I like better about shepherd's pie than chicken pot pie:
1. You don't need to make a double pie crust
2. Potatoes aren't quite as heavy as said double pie crust

Best of both worlds: Pie crust on the bottom, mashed potatoes on top, chicken in the middle with leftover gravy and basic, sautéd onions, garlic and carrots.

It was beautiful. Throw in the fact that I used brine to flavour the potatoes instead of cream or butter, and I had a pretty delicious meal. I didn't feel like weighing myself down with a pound of whipped butter, and my leftover pickling solution was the trick. Sounds strange, was delicious. I actually ended up with one chicken pot shepherds pie, and one chicken shepherd's pie since I only had one pie crust and I'm more interested in the filling than the crust anyway.

What you need:
1. Pie crust (I had frozen a gluten-free pie crust from the last time I made pie. I'd even frozen it in a small loaf pan. Maybe I'd secretly known it would end up being for chicken pot pie. Ir I'd just planned on making a strange kind of filled fruit pie?

2. Leftover chicken (breast leg, whatever. Roasted is traditional, but even if you need to cook up some chicken to make this, it's all fair game).

3. Vegetables of choice (Onions, celery and carrots are standard, but use whatever you have. I even used the bottoms of some bok choy instead of celery)

4. Gravy. You can make a quick gravy - I'd especially recommend a miso gravy in this case (I leave out the nutritional yeast), so you don't have to roast a whole chicken or use a disgusting canned or boxed product that calls itself helpful - or if you have leftover, that's the best. There's a good reason this is most often made around Thanksgiving when there are leftovers. You only need about 3 tbsp. You can also skip it completely and use white wine or vermouth, and broth mixed with flour or cornstarch to thicken or not) 

5. Potatoes and some kind of liquid for flavour (broth is great, but a brine solution of water, vinegar, salt and a little sugar also works wonders. I kind of liked the kick from the vinegar, but maybe that's the Newfoundlander in me)

6. Optional green thing to garnish

Instructions:
Make/buy the pie crust. It's really easy to make, but, well, I understand if you cheat. Actually, no, I don't understand, but I'll turn a blind eye this time. Defrost it if it was frozen.

Boil the potatoes whole in their jackets until soft (about 15 minutes for big ones). Make sure they're completely covered in the water or turn them during the cooking time. Test them with a fork to make sure they're done - the fork should slide into the potato easily. Remove from the water and let cool while you chop everything else for the pot shepherd's pie.

It doesn't really matter how you cut the vegetables, but if they're all cut the same they'll cook more evenly. Just hack 'em up. It'll be fine.

Sauté the onions and optional garlic and celery in a little oil over medium-heat for 30 seconds, then turn the heat down to medium low and let the onions sweat a little. 7 or so minutes later add the carrots.

While this is going on, skin the potatoes. they should slip right out of their winter jackets. Mash them with a fork or a a masher or a slotted spoon or your hands. Depends on your anger that day, I suppose, and add your seasoning of choice (you can heat a little vinegar with a bit of sugar and some salt to dissolve them if you like, or just add some milk and butter, or broth). You're going to need some liquid to make it creamy, and using the cooking liquid is bland, bland, bland. 

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Now add the chicken and gravy (If you're using alcohol, turn the heat up to medium high again before adding. Then let the alcohol burn off before adding a little broth mixed with flour or cornstarch). You can also add some herbs here. I threw in some fresh thyme. Keep it simple. This is not Indian tandoori chicken pot shepherd's pie, after all.

When everything seems nice and coated in gravy and it's pretty thick, move the filling into the pie crust.

Oh yeah! I forgot that I added the chopped green part of the bok choy after filling the pie crust. It didn't need to be sautéed first. That would just kill nutrients.

Top with the potato mixture. I did this with one pie crust and just stuck the whole cast iron skillet (thanks!) I'd used to sauté into the oven as well for a second crust-less shepherd's pie.This is how it came out 25 minutes later - golden and crisp on top, sweet and tender-crisp in the middle (the miso is very sweet and is a really nice complement for the vinegar in the potato purée). Basically I hunted through looking for carrots, my favourite part. Weird, I know. The potatoes even tasted like something. That's why I hate mashed potatoes - they're usually bland and boring, but these were okay. I wouldn't eat them everyday, but I'm not much of a Newfoundlander, as proven by the fact that I didn't take the free drink offered by Air Canada on my return flight last night when we were running late...Shame.