Claw marks in the frozen peas

How To: Turkey Pot Pie

With the arrival of Fall, colder weather and holiday festivities, pot pie is one of the perfect comfort foods for the season. I’ve adapted a couple recipes I found on the Internet to make use of the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

Serves 4
Approximate cook time 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded or diced
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup diced carrot
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon milk or water
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 3 tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper

How To: Make Your Own Phở gà - Assembly (part 3 of 3)

Other Preparations and Assembly

1. Discard the skin at your discretion. Using your fingers, shred the meat from the breasts, thighs, legs and wings into long thin strips (approximately 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch). Optionally, you can cut the chicken meat with a knife. Aim for 1/4 inch pieces.
2. Prep the onion by cutting it in half (or quarters) and then slicing each half into paper thin slices. The scallions should be thinly chopped, approximately 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch. Rough or finely chop the cilantro leaves. You can do this step while cooking the stock.
3. Place the noodles into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Approximately 5-10 minutes. I prefer not to boil the entire package of noodles at the same time. Instead, boil as much as you need. While cooking the noodles, bring the stock to a simmer over medium heat to ensure good timing. Drain the noodles into a colander and place into a bowl.
4. Assemble a bowl by placing noodles, chicken, onion, scallions and scallions in this order. Raise the heat and bring the stock to a boil. Ladle the chicken stock into each bowl just to cover and sprinkle some fresh ground pepper to finish.
5. Stuck on a step or two? Send me an email for tech support: vpcwiu at the gmail.

How To: Make Your Own Phở gà - Stock (part 2 of 3)

Making the Stock

1. Place one onion and ginger directly on the cooking grate of gas stove with a medium flame, or on an electric stove set to medium. After 15 minutes, both the onion and ginger will have softened slightly and become sweetly fragrant. You do not have to char the entire surface. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 minutes. Keep a close eye while you’re charring the onion and ginger, and if you’re working indoors, be sure to open a window and turn on the exhaust fan. Use tongs to rotate the onion and ginger occasionally and discard any onion skin that has flayed away.
2. After the onion and ginger have cooled, remove the charred black bits with your fingers or a damp paper towel. You may also run it under warm running water, but this will remove some of the flavor. Remove the outer skin off of the ginger with a vegetable peeler or a paring knife. Halve the ginger lengthwise and lightly mash it with the broad side of a clever or a chef’s knife. Set the onion and ginger aside.
3. Remove the leaves from the stems of the cilantro. Set aside the leaves for later. Discard half of the stems and retain half (the bundle should be about half an inch thick) for the bouquet garni. Toast the coriander seeds in a small skillet for a minute or until fragrant. Place the cilantro stems, coriander, star anise, cloves into the cheese cloth and bind it with the twine like this. If you don’t have access to cheese cloth, a coffee filter works too. Set the bouquet garni aside.
4. Rinse the chicken thoroughly under cool water. Detach the wings by bending it back and cutting at the shoulder joint. If the chicken came with its heart, liver or other innards, discard them or save them for another use. Remove and discard any pieces of fat from the chicken and its parts. Set the chicken aside.
5. First you must parboil the chicken to achieve a clear stock. Start by placing the chicken and its parts (wings & neck) in a stockpot (at least 12-quart capacity) and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and maintain the boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the liquid while dumping the chicken into a colander or clean sink and rinse the parts to wash off any clinging residue. Scrub the pot clean and return the chicken to pot, breast side up.
6. Add water to the pot just to cover again. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower to a gentle simmer. Using a spoon or a ladle, skim off any impurities or scum that rises to the surface. Maintain skimming throughout the entire cooking process. After lowering the heat to a simmer, add the onions, ginger, salt, fish sauce, sugar and the bouquet garni, and cook uncovered for 25 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.
7. After simmering for 25 minutes, the chicken should be fully cooked. Its flesh should feel firm yet still yield to the touch. Use a pair of tongs to remove the chicken and its parts, draining them thoroughly of any stock. Rinse the chicken with cold water and drain it well. Set it aside on a large plate for 20 minutes to cool. Meanwhile, maintain a steady simmer on the stock.
8. When the chicken is cool enough to be handled, use a knife to remove each breast and the whole legs (thigh and drumstick). Set aside on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely. Return the carcass to the stockpot and adjust the heat if necessary. Simmer the stock for another 1.5 hours. Avoid boiling or the stock will become cloudy.
9. At this point, the stock should be finished. Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve, or a regular sieve lined with cheese cloth/coffee filter, into a pot. Discard the carcass, onion, ginger and bouquet garni. You can refrigerate the stock overnight and skim off the solidified fat and then reheat before continuing, but this is optional. Adjust the seasoning (salt, sugar and fish sauce) to taste. There should be about 16 cups of stock.

How To: Make Your Own Phở gà - Ingredients (part 1 of 3)

Creating great Phở gà or chicken phở is actually easier than you might think. You can easily spend between 8-15 dollars for a bowl of phở at a restaurant, but making a pot at home will run you about 20 dollars.

To make great phở, you’ll need to stick with quality ingredients, especially when choosing a bird to make the stock with. This recipe should be simple enough for anyone to follow so long as you have basic knife and kitchen prep skills.

Serves 8 to 10
Approximate cook time 3 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow onions, unpeeled
• 4 inch section of fresh ginger, unpeeled
• 1 whole chicken (preferably organic/free range)
• 5 quarts of water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 3 tablespoons Fish sauce (nước mắm)
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 4 cloves (whole)
• 2 star anise (whole)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 packages of flat rice noodles (Bánh Phở)
• 1 bunch scallions
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 8 inch square cheese cloth or 1 coffee filter
• 6 inches of butcher’s twine

• 3 cups bean sprouts (approx. 1/2 pound)
• 10-12 springs of fresh mint
• 10-12 sprigs of Thai basil
• 2-3 Thai or serrano chiles, thinly sliced
• 2-3 limes, cut into wedges