Thanksgiving :: Turkey Turnovers

 Happy Thanksgiving!  It was a very quiet holiday here in Canada, as cases of Covid are rising again and gatherings are being kept to a minimum.  We had a delicious turkey dinner, just the four of us, on Sunday night which left the holiday Monday free for watching movies, knitting, cooking with leftovers and eating all the pie.

I purchased a double turkey breast on the bone from Willowtree Farms (I used this recipe to prepare it from Ina Garten and it was delicious).  After removing all the meat from the bones, I started a turkey stock first thing on Monday morning.  I love using my instant pot to make stock.  I just popped the turkey bones in with some carrots, celery, onion, garlic and herbs, added water and set to manual for 45 minutes.  The slow cooker is also great to do this.  I set the stock aside for tomorrow as I had other things on my mind.

I kept thinking about these turkey turnovers my Mom would make after Thanksgiving when we were young.  They were almost like a hand pie that we dipped in a little bowl of delicious gravy.  Yes, please!  I found her pastry recipe (probably from the 80’s) and didn’t love that it used a block of cream cheese and lard, so I came up with a version of my own.  Here is the recipe if you’d like to try it the next time you have leftover turkey (or chicken).

Turkey Turnovers

Ingredients for the Pastry:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 stick of butter (cold and cut into 1” pieces)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried thyme leaves (optional)

2-3 TBSP ice water

Ingredients for the filling:

3 TBSP butter

1 small onion or shallot, chopped

2 TBSP all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups of cubed, cooked turkey breast

1/4 cup frozen corn or mixed vegetables 

1 tsp dried or French thyme 

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1/2 tsp pepper or to taste

To make the pastry:

Add all the pastry ingredients except the water to a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  With the food processor running, pour the ice water through the feeding tube slowly and continue until a ball of dough forms.  

Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for at least one hour.

To make the filling:

Add butter to the skillet on medium heat and add chopped onion or shallot until it is translucent.

Add flour to butter and onion mixture and whisk until the flour is incorporated into the butter.  Let cook for about one minute being careful not to let it burn.

Slowly add milk in batches to the flour/butter mixture, whisking constantly.  As soon as the milk is absorbed, add the next batch until you have a creamy sauce.  Let it bubble and thicken and then add the cubed turkey, corn, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir well and take off the heat to cool slightly.

To make the turnovers:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

You will need one egg, beaten for an egg wash.

Dust your working surface with flour and start rolling out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about a 12” round.  Cut out 8 or 9 circles (I used a 4 or 5” bowl to cut mine).

Set the circles out and fill with a spoon or two of the filling on one side, then fold the circle in half and seal with a brush of egg wash.  Use a fork to crimp the edges and add a few holes to the tops of the turnovers.  Place on a lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

I think these came out even better than I remember and everyone really liked them.  I served them with leftover stuffing, mashed potatoes and little bowls of gravy to dip them in.  I hope you are enjoying the last bit of this Thanksgiving weekend.