Thursday, May 1, 2014

Rosie Makes Kentucky Hot Browns In Time For The Derby.

 
The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 3,
and in honor of the occasion,
 Rosie is offering you Kentucky Hot Browns.


The Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich, an open-faced sandwich that layers sliced turkey, tomatoes, Mornay sauce, and bacon atop thick-cut toast, was created in 1926 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, by Chef Fred K. Schmidt.  During the twenties, the Brown Hotel regularly drew over 1200 guests each evening for a glamorous party of dining and dancing.  When the band took a break at midnight, the late-night revelers would flock to the restaurant for sustenance to keep them going for the rest of the night.  Chef Schmidt created the Kentucky Hot Brown as an alternative to the standard ham and eggs he’d been serving for late-night/early-morning pick-me-ups.  The dish was a hit and a Louisville treasure, the Kentucky Hot Brown, was born.

I started out with a turkey breast
which I smoked for about an hour
just long enough to get the smoked flavor in,
and then I slow-cooked it until it reached
an internal temperature of 170°.
Let rest before slicing.



Smoking the meat gives this breast a lovely patina.


I toasted a few slices of my homemade baguettes.

Place toasts in oven-proof dishes.

Next I'm making a béchamel sauce,
a white sauce that's one of the mother sauces of French cuisine.
Melt two tablespoons unsalted butter
over medium low heat.
Add in two tablespoons of flour
and whisk, cooking for 2 minutes
to get the raw taste out of the flour.


Slowly, add in 1 1/2 cups heavy cream,
whisking constantly.
Cook until nicely thickened.

Season to taste with Kosher salt,
 freshly ground pepper, and cayenne.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
and 1/4 cup Gruyere cheese.
Your béchamel sauce is now a Mornay sauce,
with the addition of cheese.
Add slices of turkey.

Add peeled, sliced Roma tomatoes.

Ladle Mornay sauce over top.

Give it some more Pecorino Romano lovin' on top
and run it under the broiler until
the cheese is bubbly and browned.

Top with bacon slices and parsley.








Now, if I can only find my silver julep cups.

Edited to add:  This recipe was just published in my May column for the Outer Banks Voice.
 I just checked out the comments about my column on their Face Book page.

" This is a terrible recipe for a Hot Brown...."

" If you go to the Brown don't expect to find any tomato on a hot brown"

Here's the original recipe from the Brown Hotel:  Kentucky Hot Browns.
It uses tomatoes.

And I wish the commenter would tell me what's so terrible about this recipe. If you make a comment like that, please back it up. Please send me your recipe so I can compare the two.




5 comments:

Rocquie said...

I love Hot Browns and your version looks terrific. Especially with your home smoked turkey breast. Wow! Rocquie

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Thanks, Rocquie. We really enjoy our stovetop smoker. I smoked oysters in it the other day and they were terrific!

Marilyn said...

Hmm, I just may have to make that soon.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

I think you should, Marilyn.

Catherine said...

Wow Rosie, That looks delicious!