There’s only one “real” hot Brown

As we approach Derby Day, many people want to serve traditional Kentucky recipes.

Raye Ann Thomas is planning a Derby brunch and she wanted an authentic Kentucky recipe for a hot Brown. “I am a native …know an “official” hot brown when I see/or eat one !! … too many deviations out there !! Our foremothers would cringe !!! MOST don’t include the country ham !!! - and a LOW-FAT one ????? — PPLLEEAASSEEEE.” she said.

The first hot Brown was created by Fred K. Schmidt, a chef at the English Grill at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, about three or four years after the famous hotel opened in 1923. The band there would play from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., and dancers would order food during the midnight break.

The usual fare: ham and eggs. The cooks wanted something new.

Chef Schmidt had an idea for an open-faced turkey sandwich with Mornay sauce. At the time, turkeys were only used at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The sandwich was broiled, with two strips of bacon and some pimento added for color.

There are many versions of the hot Brown. Some cooks take shortcuts and use deli turkey slices, city ham, and a cheese sauce. The best ones have country ham slices. The Engine House Deli in Winchester makes it with toasted white bread, sliced country ham and sliced turkey — covered with white cheddar cheese and country Mornay sauce (sausage gravy).

Here is the original recipe from The Brown Hotel in Louisville.

The original hot Brown
4 ounces butter
Flour to make a roux (about 6 tablespoons)
3 to 3 1/2 cups milk
1 beaten egg
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 ounce whipped cream (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Slices of roast turkey
8 to 12 slices of toast (may be trimmed)
Extra Parmesan for topping
8 to 12 strips fried bacon

Melt butter and enough flour to make a reasonable roux (enough to absorb all of the butter). Add milk and Parmesan cheese. Add egg to thicken sauce, but do not allow to boil.
Remove from heat. Fold in whipped cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For each hot Brown, place two slices of toast on a metal or flameproof dish. Cover the toast with a liberal amount of turkey. Pour a generous amount of sauce over the turkey and toast. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. Place entire dish under broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of bacon on top and serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Over the years, chefs have add their personal touch to the recipe. Peggy Hiegert was chef at The Brown in 1985 when she used this recipe.
Peggy Hiegert’s hot Brown
1 stick butter
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup freshly grated Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup sherry
2 egg yolks, whipped
4 toast points, halved diagonally
Turkey slices, from breast
4 tomato wedges
4 strips bacon
Parsley for garnish

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle with flour while stirring, using just enough to make a tight consistency. (You might not need it all). Cook while stirring until paste is golden and dry.
Stir in half-and-half and cream and cook until the flour taste is gone. Stir in the cheeses. Add the sherry, which has been boiled for 30 seconds to 1 minute to cook out the alcohol and continue stirring until sauce has a thin consistency and the cheese is melted.
Strain the hot sauce into a bowl or another saucepan. Add the whipped yolks and blend well. Sauce may be reheated, but must not boil. Line 2 ovenproof single-serving dishes with 2 toast points, turkey and generous covering of sauce. Run under broiler until lightly browned. Remove and place 2 wedges tomato and 2 strips bacon, crossed, on each sandwich. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot. Makes 2 servings.

This version of the hot Brown is from Shakertown’s Welcome Back to Pleasant Hill cookbook.
Shakertown’s hot Brown
4 slices of bread, toasted
4 slices of turkey or chicken
8 slices of bacon, slightly cooked or 4 slices thinly sliced country ham
1/2 cup American cheese, grated
1/2 cup sharp cheese, grated
Cream sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
Salt and cayenne to taste
1/4 teaspoon curry powder if desired
1/4 cup American and 1/4 cup sharp cheese, grated and mixed

Melt butter. Add flour, salt, cayenne and curry if desired. Stir constantly until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add milk, stirring all the while until smooth. Return to heat and cook slowly until thickened. Stir in cheeses until melted.
To assemble place turkey or chicken on toast in four ovenware dishes and cover with cream sauce. Top with grated cheese then bacon or ham. Place under broiler (about 6 inches) and broil slowly until bacon is cooked. Serve hot from broiler. Makes 4 servings.

This recipe is from Cissy Gregg, who was food editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal in the late ’40s and ’50s. After reading it, you can understand why the simpler hot Browns came into being.
The first instructions are to simmer a hen in water seasoned with a few peppercorns, salt and bay leaf. When tender, cool in the broth. After cooling, cut the breast into thin slices.

Hot Brown sandwich
Bechamel sauce
1/3 cup butter or margarine
½ medium-sized sliced onion, minced
1/3 cup flour
3 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon salt
Dash of red pepper
Sprigs of parsley, optional
Dash of nutmeg
Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add onion, and cook slowly until light brown, about 15 or 20 minutes. Add flour, and blend until the flour makes a smooth paste with the minced onion in it. Add milk and other seasonings, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes all together. Strain. If sauce isn’t to be used immediately, stir occasionally to keep a crust from forming on top.

Mornay sauce:
2 cups bechamel sauce
2 egg yolks
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
4 tablespoons whipped cream
Heat bechamel sauce, and combine with egg yolks. Stir constantly, and remove from heat as soon as it starts to boil. When hot and thick, add cheese and butter or margarine. The sauce must not boil or it will curdle.
Then, for every 1/2 cup sauce that is to be used for the sandwich, fold in 1 tablespoon whipped cream. Here, it would be 4 tablespoons. Fry as many strips of bacon as the number of sandwiches you are making. Saute a mushroom cap for each sandwich.
To assemble, cut the crusts off 2 slices of bread for each sandwich. Toast bread. Put 1 slice of toast in an shallow oven-proof dish. Lay slices of chicken on top of toast. Cover with a heaping portion of the sauce. Place in very hot oven or under broiler until sauce takes on the glow of a suntan. Cut the extra slice of toast diagonally, and put the tips at each end. Top with bacon strip and mushroom. A little more grated cheese mixed with bread crumbs can be sprinkled over the sauce.