Turkey Pot Pie

I've never before made turkey pot pie, nor any other pot pie. When it comes to sauces, if the "mother sauce" is hollandaise (think bearnaise, sauce aurore, etc.), I let SJ make it, but if it starts with bechamel, it's my realm. Come to think of it, any sauce that starts with a roux is my realm. Bechamel uses a light roux, then the milk, salt and pepper. Gravy uses whatever roux you get from the pan drippings, which could be light or dark. Start with a bechamel for any cream or cheese sauce, and you have the idea.

The personal-sized pies came out just fine. If I do it again, I would make the bechamel a bit on the runny side, because a lot of the liquid steams out in the oven. I would have preferred the filling to have stayed as creamy luscious as it was when it went into the oven. That's my personal preference. SJ thought it tasted better than the one he got at the Black Horse Pub a few months ago. He watched me make the bechamel, just to learn how it was done. Trust a chemist to want to learn the proportions (1:1, fat to flour), milk as needed for the consistency you want, and salt and pepper to taste, if not any actual stove burner/pot temperatures, which can be unpredictable, even from burner to burner, unless you know you own (gas) stove really well.

My pie crust is supposedly superb. I hate the stuff myself, so whether I make it for a quiche, a fruit pie, or a pot pie, I pick out the filling and leave the crust. Call me weird. I don't care. I just don't like pie crust, no matter how perfectly flaky and "good" it is.

There are only a few things I won't eat, and pie crust is among them. I've only recently learned to eat brussels sprouts after being fed them (boiled) for lunch daily from the age of three to five by the Catholic school my parents had me attend in London. I still don't really like them, but I can eat them if sauteed in bacon grease with minced garlic, in the absence of real bacon.

I think of cooking similarly to writing. If I'm attempting something I've never before done, I sort of have a clue, but treat it as an experiment. Even if it turns out alright, I can think of six things I can do next time around to fix it, and make it much better. An editor is invaluable for writing. A taste-tester other than myself is invaluable for kitchen feats.

Tomorrow, the online Christmas shopping begins. SJ wants cushy warm hunting socks, as he does every year, but also a box-set of Star Trek:TNG. Cabela's it is for the socks. Amazon for the DVDs. He's so easy to shop for: he asks for what he wants. No nasty surprises that way. I just want . . . um, I'll have to think about that . . .I can't think of anything. Maybe a case of votive candles for SJ to burn?