The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky is famous for its legendary hot brown. A Louisville tradition with worldwide appeal it has been featured in Southern Living Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, NBC’s Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, as well as being included as a regular entry in many of the finest cookbooks. The recipe below is taken from the Brown Hotel’s website and is the recipe for the famous original hotbrown. You can read about this recipe and the hotel here: http://www.brownhotel.com/dining-hot-brown.htm.
The Legendary Hot Brown Recipe
Ingredients (Makes Two Hot Browns):
- 2 oz. Whole Butter
- 2 oz. All Purpose Flour
- 16 oz. Heavy Cream
- 1/2 Cup Pecorino Romano Cheese, Plus 1 Tablespoon for Garnish
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
- 14 oz. Sliced Roasted Turkey Breast
- 2 Slices of Texas Toast (Crust Trimmed)
- 4 slices of Crispy Bacon
- 2 Roma Tomatoes, Sliced in Half
- Paprika
- Parsley
In a two-quart saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined and forms a thick paste (roux). Continue to cook roux for two minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk heavy cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino Romano cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For each Hot Brown, place one slice of toast in an oven safe dish and cover with 7 ounces of turkey. Take the two halves of Roma tomato and set them alongside the base of turkey and toast. Next, pour one half of the Mornay sauce to completely cover the dish. Sprinkle with additional Pecorino Romano cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top, sprinkle with paprika and parsley, and serve immediately.
Each year when it comes time for The Kentucky Derby this recipe always comes to mind as one of Kentucky’s originals.
Note: I cut the recipe for the Mornay sauce in half and have plenty of sauce for 4 hot browns. I use 1 ounce of real butter or about 2 tablespoons, 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 pint of heavy cream and 1/4 cup cheese. I like a lot of pepper in the sauce, too. You can use however much roasted turkey you want on each hot brown. If you don’t have individual baking dishes that can go under the broiler, a metal pie pan works great or you can put several in a large baking dish and put under the broiler at one time. Some recipes add sliced ham along with the turkey. I have made these using fresh grated parmesan cheese, too, and regular sliced tomatoes.
Enjoy!
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