Thanksgiving Hot Water Crust Pie

Ricky and I are celebrating our Thanksgiving early since he has to work on Turkey Day. We decided to make a meat pie filled with all the goodness of Thanksgiving. Now, since we were making this before Thanksgiving, we made all the food for the inside of the pie the night beforehand, but this is the ultimate way to use your leftovers from the big day as well!

We used turkey breast, stove top stuffing (yes, it's in a box, and yes it's my favorite - step off), gravy, and mashed potatoes. Like I said though, you do you, boo. What you got left over? Green bean casserole? Okay, throw it in there. Cranberry sauce? Done. Sweet potato casserole? I'm not mad at that.

Let me tell you about how we prepared our innards in case you are making this on a day that's not the day after Thanksgiving, like us. As I stated earlier, we made the innards the day before, and then we made the crust and assembled on the day of feasting.

For the Turkey:
2 pounds turkey breast? **We got an 8 pound turkey breast because that's what Aldi had, and it was a good sale. We used like 1/4 - 1/3 of the meat we had.**
Salt *a generous amount*
Pepper
Fresh Rosemary
A lemon (again,, this is if you have a whole on-bone turkey breast)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. If you got a giant turkey breast like us, still on the bone, pat dry and generously slather with olive oil. Salt and pepper the outside.
3. Fill the cavity of the bird with fresh rosemary and a lemon cut in half.
4. If you didn't buy a giant turkey breast, you can just oil, salt and pepper, and finely chop the rosemary and sprinkle it over the skin.
5. Bake the turkey for about 2 hours if you have 8 pounds of it.... but you're looking for it to be at an internal temp of 165F no matter what size you have. For a big guy like ours, we took it out at about 155F and let it rest up to the correct temperature, about 45 mins to an hour.

6. Once cooled enough to handle, cut into chunks. We put ours in the fridge overnight because I couldn't be bothered to make all of this AND the pie in one night.
7. If there's any juices in the pan, drain off into a mason jar and keep in the fridge for gravy tomorrow.

For the Gravy:
..... I used a packet of gravy mix. Don't  judge me... There was a lot going on.

1 packet of gravy mix
Juices from your turkey + enough water to make 1 cup

1. Pour gravy packet and juices and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to cook for about a minute, and then turn off until assembly. You can also jazz it up with any other spices you like.

For the Stuffing:
I'm not writing this out- buy a box of stuffing. Follow directions. You'll need butter.

For the Mashed Potatoes:
3 large-ish russet potatoes
1 c-ish whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter (shut up, it's Thanksgiving- these are free calories)
1/3 packet of ranch seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces (this just makes them cook faster). Put them in a pot with cold water (until covering potatoes) and add a lot of salt.
2. Bring to a boil and let cook until fork tender. Drain and set aside.
3. If you're us, we put the potatoes in the fridge once they were cooled and finished the mashing process the next day.
4. Put potatoes back in the pot and add milk, butter, and seasonings. *this is true whether you have cold potatoes or hot. **if they're cold, heat everything together until warm.
5. Mash with your favorite method. *We did a hand mixer so they were creamy.
6. Taste and add additional spices if need be.

For the Hot Water Crust:
I used the recipe I have used before from this Guinness meat and mushroom pie.

300 g unsalted butter (a little less than 3 sticks- 21.5 tablespoons)
1 1/3 c water
1 tsp salt
5 c all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Have a springform pan on deck. *I used a 9 inch, but I have also done this in an 8 inch springform.
2. Put water, salt, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. While that's coming to a boil, but flour in a large heat-safe bowl and clean off your counter so that you can knead dough on it.
4. Once water mixture comes to a boil, make a well in flour and start to pour in, mixing as you go.
5. Once it is all combined, turn out onto counter.
6. Knead dough for about 10 - 15 minutes until it gets shiny and holds together better.

7. This is how it looks in the middle of the kneading process- see how it's still pulling apart?

8. Pull off about 1/3 of the dough and set aside for the top of the crust.
9. Roll out the larger piece so that it is big enough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. *I kept grabbing my pan and seeing if it was large enough.

11. Transfer to the pan and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. It's okay if it falls apart a little- just shove it back together.

12. Roll out the top of the pie crust just so it's slightly bigger than the pan. Set aside.

Assembly:

1. Take prepared pan with dough in it. Add a layer of stuffing (or whatever you have).

2. Add second layer of goodness- for us it was turkey and gravy.

3. Add third layer- this was mashed potatoes for us.

 

4. If you got more stuff, keep adding.
5. Once done layering, add the top pie crust. Tear off excess and press top crust into the side crust to form a seal. Don't press it over the pan, otherwise you'll destroy it when trying to get it out of the pan.

6. In a small bowl, take an egg and beat it with a splash of water. Brush onto the top of the crust. This will help browning. If you don't have an egg, you can also do this with milk or heavy cream.
7. Cut slits in the top for venting. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

8. Allow to cool. This is like the fires of hell hot, so at least 20 - 25 minutes.
9. Release from the pan.

10. Cut and serve with extra gravy (or cranberry sauce).

11. Fall into a turkey coma.

Rosemary Parmesan Shortbread

I wanted to try making some savory shortbread as a little appetizer for Thanksgiving. I riffed off of my sweet shortbread. The first time, I put far too much flour because I didn't account for not having sugar in there... but the second time, they were delightful! These little babies are salty and smell like the holidays for sure. Also, I will be posting a bonus recipe here where I used this shortbread as a crust for a savory tart, and where I contemplate if that's the only application needed for savory shortbread.. 

For the shortbread:

2 sticks of butter, unsalted, room temp
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 oz (ish) grated parmesan cheese *buy the block, grate it yourself **I say ish because I think I added more, because it's kinda like vanilla, and we measure cheese with our hearts
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
Pinch of black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients to combine.
3. Turn dough out onto parchment and press down with hands until you have a rectangle that's about 1/4 inch thick. *The second time, I did take the parchment off the baking sheet, roll with the rolling pin, and then put the parchment back on the sheet. **Also, I say rectangle loosely. You'll be cutting them anyway, and the excess is a great chef snack!

4.** What I didn't do that I will do next time is go ahead and cut these into squares with a knife or a bench scraper before I bake them so that they resemble neat little crackers. I didn't do this the first time, and they are delicious, but crumbly when you cut.
4. Bake in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is lightly golden. *If you cut them into smaller squares, the baking time will probably be faster. I will update when I make again!

5. If you didn't cut beforehand, when then come out of the oven, immediately cut into squares. Allow to cool completely before you eat.

Bonus round (Savory Tart):

Use recipe above for the crust, and then you'll need:
6 oz Italian sausage *I used hot Italian sausage
2 white onions
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c grated parmesan (you should have leftovers from the block anyway)
1 1/2 c (ish) shredded mozzarella
1 clove garlic
*Optional additions- a pinch of red pepper flake and worchestershire sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2.Take your shortbread dough and press it into the bottom of a tart pan or pie pan. Par bake for about 10 - 15 minutes just so that it starts to set up. It will finish cooking with the innards later.

3. In a pan, cook the sausage on medium heat and then remove to a bowl to use later.
4. Chop onions into half moons (like strips, cut the onion in half and then just cut strips... you get what I'm going for right?). Add to the pan that the sausage was cooked in. Add a bit of salt, pepper, and oil. Turn down to a lower heat and allow to caramelize. This does take a bit. I also added a bit of worchestershire, but like I said, that's optional.

5. Combine sausage, onions, cheeses, and parsley in a bowl. Reserve a bit of cheese for the top of the tart.

 6. Put all ingredients in the tart pan on top of the par-baked shortbread dough. Top with reserved cheese.

7. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the crust and the top are lightly golden.
8. Allow to cool for about 15 - 20 minutes before digging in or you will burn everything like I did. I have little patience. This should come as no surprise.

Spice Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream

It's November, and that's the perfect time for all things spice. This is another recipe that I decided to make because I am still trying to perfect a "white cake" recipe, aka a non-chocolate cake, and tis the season to have copious amounts of cinnamon in everything, so here we are. This recipe makes three 8-inch round cakes OR 24 cupcakes with a bit extra. I chose cupcakes for this one so that I could shove them full of fig marmalade. No regrets.

For the Cake:
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
2 c granulated sugar
2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 24 cupcake tins with liners (and an extra little cake pan for the extra batter. No batter left behind!)
2. Combine vegetable oil and butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.
3. Gradually add in the granulated sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture.
5. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

6. Pour 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix to combine.
7. Pour 1/2 of the buttermilk into sugar mixture and combine.
8. Pour another 1/3 of dry.
9. Pour second 1/2 of buttermilk.
10. Pour in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
11. Divide the batter between cupcakes liners. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the Buttercream:
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 c (ish) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon *I am gonna be honest here- I didn't measure. I rarely do with cinnamon. This is my best estimate. Put some in and taste it and add more if you need to. That's all I got. 
**You could also add a splash of heavy cream to loosen it up if you like. I did not.*

1. Put butter into stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment and start to mix.
2. Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar and cinnamon. *I actually sifted these two together. 
3. Add vanilla and salt.
4. Whip until light and fluffy. If you feel like it's too loose, add more sugar. If it feels too tight, add a splash of cream or milk.
5. Slather on everything. Everything.

Assembly:
1. Take the cooled cupcakes and hollow out a hole in the center, making sure not to go all the way to the bottom of the cupcake. Put your favorite fig marmalade in a piping bag and cut off the tip. *You could also use like a pumpkin or apple butter here. That would be delicious. Or like an apple pie filling. Oh man, now I want apple pie.

2. Pipe the marmalade into each cupcake. I took the piece that I cut out of the cupcake and just took the very top and put it back on top of the jam so that it's easier to frost.
3. Pipe or scoop buttercream onto each cupcake- I scooped here and swirled with an offset spatula. These have a rustic feel to me, but you could jazz them up for the holidays easily.
4. Make some coffee and sit on your couch with a warm blanket and eat at least 3 in a row to make sure they're just right before you serve them to your guests. Quality control people.