Holiday Leftover Pies!

Who out there has leftovers? I bet one or two of you do if your Thanksgiving feasts looked anything like ours did. Well boy oh boy do I have an awesome recipe for you today… Holiday Leftover Pies! Now I will admit, this might be a bit of a replay on my part, but I got the idea from those delicious Pirozhki’s that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. Pirozhkis are little Russian yeast buns which have been stuffed with ground beef, leeks and cheddar. Quite yummy as you can imagine. So I was thinking about them. Well, them and the fact that the Husband loves the day-after Thanksgiving sandwich. You know – the Thanksgiving dinner -turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy – squished between two slices of bread. Yeah, well he loves it…quite possibly more than he likes the original Thanksgiving Day feast. So, combining the two thoughts, I stuffed these little Thanksgiving Pirozhkis with leftover turkey and all the trimmings, baked ’em up and let me tell you…They were Awesome! Dare I say even better than the sandwich version.

And the fact that you are working with a filling that has spent at least one day in the fridge is a big benefit as well. I mean cutting off a slice of gravy to add to the filling rather than working with a hot liquid version when stuffing dough is a far superior experience. Just take a few moments to dice up any meat into bite sized cubes and the rest is easy-peasy. The total amount of filling, whatever leftovers you might have on hand, should be about 2 – 2 1/2 Tablespoons per bun. And I will say that when you pinch the folded over dough together to seal the bun, don’t hold back! Give it quite a pinch or use a fork like you would in making a pie crust to ensure that the bun edges stick together and don’t pop open in the oven. But if they do, no worries. I assure you, it won’t effect the taste one little bit!

These Day-After Leftover Pies will be a tradition after every holiday feast from this day forward, I can assure you. We’re already thinking ahead to Christmas when we’ll have leftover prime rib, mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy. Drool, drool, drool! So I just had to share this with everyone. If you’ve already gobbled down all your Thanksgiving leftovers, keep these in mind for Christmas. You, and whomever you decide to share with, will be delighted!

• Servings: 16 pies
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Holiday Leftover Pie dough recipe from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 4 cups (17 oz /482 grams) All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup (1 oz./28 grams) Vermont Cheese Powder (don’t have cheese powder? you can substitute grated parmesan or leave it out altogether.)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz./113grams) sour cream
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 2 oz./57grams) soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (4 oz./113grams) warm water
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (7/8 oz./25grams) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

For the filling:

• Whatever leftovers you have, such as: diced turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy & cranberry sauce

Directions:

To make the dough: Combine all the dough ingredients and mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until a soft, smooth dough forms.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rest for about 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces; if you have a scale they’ll weigh about 2 ounces each. 

Shape the pieces into balls, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between them. 

Cover the dough balls, and allow them to rest for about 15 minutes.

Ready your leftovers. Don’t reheat them, leave them cold. They will be much easier to work with.Chop any large pieces of meat into a smaller dice.

Shape each ball into a flattened round about 5″ in diameter, brush the surface with some of the egg/water wash, and place 2 tablespoons of filling onto the center of each round. 

Pull the dough over the filling, pinching two opposite edges together tightly, to seal in the filling; it should look like a dumpling. 

Place the buns on two lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover the buns, and allow them to rise for 1 hour, or until puffy.

Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 400°F.

Brush the buns with the remaining egg wash. Bake the buns for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. It’s OK if some of the seams have come undone and the filling is visible; they can be prettier that way!

Remove the buns from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Store any leftover buns in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Holiday Leftover Pies brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Useful Links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Holiday Leftover Pies:

6 Quart Dough Rising Bucket

Norpro 2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop

SAF Instant Yeast

Vermont Cheese Powder

 

Stuffed Buns (Pirozhki)

Look what I’ve got here…little yeast buns stuffed with ground beef, leeks and cheddar! YUM! Comfort food at its best! Known as Pirozhki in their native Russia, which actually means “small pie”, these savory, individual sized pies will soon be found in high rotation in your meal plans.

We fell head over heels for them straight away. I mean what’s not to love? There’s a soft pillowy dough which encircles a savory blend of meat and cheese – Oh yes! Count me in.

Exceedingly portable, these buns are not only delicious hot from the oven, but are also fabulous at room temperature and may have single-handedly saved us on a particularly rainy camping weekend. They are very versatile, so if ground beef and cheddar isn’t your thing, you could try a meatless option with sautéed onions, cabbage and chopped hardboiled eggs. And don’t forget, Thanksgiving is coming up soon. That means leftovers. A post-holiday Pirozhki with chopped turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce is very likely to make an appearance in my house. I’ll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, give these Stuffed Buns a try!

• Servings: 16 Buns
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe from: King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 4 cups (17 oz /482 grams) All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup (1 oz./28 grams) Vermont Cheese Powder (don’t have cheese powder? you can substitute grated parmesan or leave it out altogether.)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz./113grams) sour cream
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, 2 oz./57grams) soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (4 oz./113grams) warm water
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (7/8 oz./25grams) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

For the Filling:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
• 1 small peeled onion or shallot, finely diced; about 3/4 cup (3 1/2 oz./14 grams) (loving leeks as we do, I went with leeks)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 8 ounces (227 grams) ground beef
• salt and pepper, to taste
• chopped parsley, fresh or dried, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz./170grams) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, to brush on dough

Directions:

To make the dough: Combine all the dough ingredients and mix and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until a soft, smooth dough forms.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rest for about 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

To make the filling: Heat the oil in a sauté pan set over medium heat. 

Add the onion and cook until translucent. 

Add the garlic and ground beef and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, breaking the meat up as it browns, until it’s cooked through. 

Season the filling with salt, pepper, and parsley, remove it from the heat, and cool to room temperature. 

Stir in the cheese. The filling can be made ahead of time, then wrapped and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces; if you have a scale they’ll weigh about 2 ounces each. 

Shape the pieces into balls, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between them. 

Cover the dough balls, and allow them to rest for about 15 minutes.

Shape each ball into a flattened round about 5″ in diameter, brush the surface with some of the egg/water wash, and place 2 tablespoons of filling onto the center of each round. 

Pull the dough over the filling, pinching two opposite edges together tightly, to seal in the filling; it should look like a dumpling. 

Place the buns on two lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover the buns, and allow them to rise for 1 hour, or until puffy.

Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 400°F.

Brush the buns with the remaining egg wash. Bake the buns for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. It’s OK if some of the seams have come undone and the filling is visible; they can be prettier that way!

Remove the buns from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Store any leftover buns in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Pirozhki brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links to Useful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Stuffed Buns (Pirozhki):

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

6 Quart Dough Rising Bucket

Norpro 2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop

SAF Instant Yeast

Vermont Cheese Powder