Louisville Hot Brown Food

LOUISVILLE HOT BROWN

Steps:

• Make the cheese sauce:.
• In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook mixture, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add milk and continue to stir. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil. Cook for 1 more minute. Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in cheeses, mustard, Tabasco sauce, and salt. Cover and keep warm.
• Cook the bacon:.
• In a large skillet, cook bacon over high heat until crisp and brown -- 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel to drain. When bacon is cool, crumble or coarsely chop.
• Make the sandwiches:.
• Preheat oven broiler. In a large ovenproof dish, arrange toasted bread slices and layer them with turkey and tomato slices. Sprinkle with pepper and spoon cheese sauce on top. Place the sandwiches under broiler and cook until sauce begins to brown lightly -- 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with bacon, and serve immediately.

LOUISVILLE HOT BROWNS

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, then drain on paper towels.
• Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to make a thick roux. Add the milk and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parmesan, reduce the heat to low and whisk in the egg until the sauce is thick (do not boil). Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
• For each Hot Brown, place 2 bread slices side by side in a small flameproof baking dish. Cover the bread with about 1/4 pound turkey and place 1 or 2 tomato slices alongside. Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup cheese sauce over the turkey and bread. Sprinkle with more parmesan and broil until the sauce is bubbly and speckled brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the broiler, cross 2 strips of bacon on top and sprinkle with parsley and more parmesan. Serve immediately.
• Photo by John Nation

KENTUCKY HOT BROWNS

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Place the egg bread on a baking sheet, place under the broiler, and heat on both sides for 20 seconds just to warm through.
• Top each slice of bread with 2 to 3 slices of turkey, ladle sauce over the top, and divide the Cheddar and Parmesan over the top of each slice. Place under the broiler and cook until bubbly and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and top each slice with 2 slices tomato and 2 slices of bacon. Sprinkle each slice with parsley and serve immediately, 2 open-face sandwiches per person.
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt
• 8 (1/2-inch thick) slices 1 day-old white bread, such as Pullman or Pain de mie
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Whisk together the eggs, milk, and salt in a medium bowl. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture and let sit about 30 seconds, or until completely soaked through.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook 4 slices of the bread at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining butter, oil, and bread.
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (4 to 5-pound) turkey breast
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Whisk together syrup, mustard, and bourbon in a small bowl and season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Set glaze aside.
• Rub entire turkey breast with butter and season with salt and pepper. Place in a small roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the center registers 155 degrees F, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. During the last 15 minutes of roasting, brush the breast with the glaze. Remove from the oven, loosely tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the flour has cooked out, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cheese and cook until melted. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper, to taste.

LOUISVILLE HOT BROWN

Steps:

• Saute onion in butter until transparent, add flour and cook stirring for 1 minute.
• Add milk, salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.
• Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.
• Add cheeses and continue heating until they blend.
• Remove from heat.
• Put one slice of toast in each of four oven-proof individual serving dishes (I used our 1980's stoneware dinner plates).
• Top each piece of toast with slices of chicken or turkey.
• Slice remaining toasts diagonally and place on sides of sandwiches.
• Ladle cheese sauce over sandwiches.
• Place sandwiches under broiler until sauce begins to bubble.
• Garnish with crumbled bacon and sauteed mushroom slices and serve immediately.

LOUISVILLE HOT BROWNS

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Chop onion.
• In a heavy saucepan heat butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and cook onion about 3 minutes, or until glassy.
• Add flour, stirring until smooth.
• Add milk, salt, and pepper and simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened and smooth.
• Add cheese and remove pan from heat.
• Whisk sauce until cheeses are melted.
• Thinly slice mushrooms.
• In a skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and saute mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until golden and any liquid given off by mushrooms is evaporated.
• Season mushrooms with salt.
• In each of 4 ovenproof individual serving dishes top 1 slice of toast with 2 slices turkey or chicken.
• Diagonally halve remaining slices of toast and "bracket" each sandwich with 2 halves.
• Ladle cheese sauce over sandwiches and broil 4 to 5-inches from heat until sauce begins to bubble and brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Crumble bacon.
• Top each sandwich with bacon and mushrooms.
• Serve sandwiches immediately.

ORIGINAL HOT BROWN

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour with a whisk or fork, and continue to cook and stir until it begins to brown slightly. Gradually whisk in the milk so that no lumps form, then bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Mix in 6 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and then stir in the beaten egg to thicken. Do not allow the sauce to boil once the egg has been mixed in. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
• Preheat the oven's broiler. For each hot brown, place two slices of toast into the bottom of an individual sized casserole dish. Cover with a liberal amount of roasted turkey and tomato slices. Spoon sauce over the top of each one and sprinkle with some of the remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Place the dishes under the broiler and cook until the top is speckled brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the broiler and arrange two slices of bacon in a cross shape on top of each sandwich. Serve immediately.

AUTHENTIC KENTUCKY HOT BROWN

Steps:

• Heat butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk, slowly cooking for about 4-5 minutes. Whisk in cram and milk and continue to heat. Whisk in cheese, slowly, until melted. SEason with salt and pepper. Simmer for about half an hour (sauce will be thick).
• Quarter the toast and place in 6" ramekins, or any oven-safe dish. Top with turkey and tomatoes. Cover with the sauce (be generous, it's good!). Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or so.
• Garnish with bacon slices and serve hot.