Let's talk about the Hot Brown

OK, this may curl your hair.

I make a Hot Brown with tofurkey and soy bacon. Plus the usual toast, cheese sauce and tomatoes, preferably from our garden.

[Robin Garr]

tales to tell about this quintessentially Louisville confection?

Thanks to all for your great suggestions. You gave me excellent background for this project, which it turned out - to my surprise, as they don't tell you in advance - was to be a judge on a Bobby Flay Throwdown!

That's right, Flay is back, and he did a throwdown against Chefs Joe and John Castro. They made Hot Browns at Whitehall in front of a crowd of employees from Brown-Forman.

Chef Todd Richards from the Oakroom and I were the judges, both sides' Hot Browns were very, very good ... it was a photo finish.

While I wasn't sworn to secrecy, in fairness I think it would be polite to let Food Network spill the beans when the show airs - the producer told me it will be sometime this summer.

It was fun, and I'm so full of hot Mornay sauce, turkey, bacon and tomatoes that I could pop.

Leah, my toes are curled up to my knees just thinking about your suggestion for a Hot Brown. Tofurkey and soy bacon do not make a Hot Brown, if it's good for you it can't be a Hot Brown. I'm not actually sure what it could be called (other than awful LOL).

Probably one of the best Hot Browns I ever had was when I was very much younger. There was a place on Hurstbourne Lane (the name escapes me) that would feature the Hot Brown from time to time on the sandwich special that was perfection........mounds of turkey piled on tosted homemade white bread, with the good vine ripened tomatoes, and a very light and creamy mornay.

It was served in a huge soup bowl, and I couldn't finish the thing.....but that was ok, because the leftovers were good later in the evening for a snack![/quote]

The original Buckhead's was a long and narrow bar and grill on hurstbourne, before they moved further back into middletown. They still have a hot brown served in a bowl today, but the last time I had it it was more quantity than quality. Now the last hot brown I had at Lynn's, with the real roasted turkey instead of deli meat, if that means clogged arteries then it literally was to die for.

Oh Mark,
I haven't eaten meat in nearly 26 years, so tofurkey and soy bacon are the real thing to me! But I do enjoy "versions" of the dishes everyone else eats. A gal can't live by bean sprouts alone!

I might be wrong, but something in my memory is telling
me that the "Hot Brown" originated in Louisville, made by a chef at the Brown
Hotel. Is this correct?

I'd really like to see that show! I worked at the Brown Hotel while I went to U of L in the early '80's. I never had a Hot Brown there but they really looked good! The cooks said it was the "real Hot Brown" and not the many variations folks had come up with. I've seen a variation with a tomato slice or two and some with the Cheezy Whiz topping, but the strangest I've seen, and seen in a few places years ago, was the peach half on top version. The late Chester's on New Cut Rd. had a fairly good one. Diamante offers one, I think. The Brown Hotel had better still have it since it started there. Great bit of history!

[Robin Garr]

I might be wrong, but something in my memory is telling
me that the "Hot Brown" originated in Louisville, made by a chef at the Brown
Hotel. Is this correct?

Absolutely right, James! Chef Fred Schmidt allegedly invented this dish at the Brown in 1923, looking for a tasty treat to serve folks for a midnight snack after the hotel's then popular dance parties. Or so the story goes. And of course the name honors the Brown Hotel, not the color of the dish ...

It's an interesting dish because it's really comfort food, but fancified - turkey, toast, tomato and bacon ... with a proper Mornay sauce! It's also a heart attack on a plate, filling and delicious.

OK, this may curl your hair.

I make a Hot Brown with tofurkey and soy bacon. Plus the usual toast, cheese sauce and tomatoes, preferably from our garden.

Leah can you please share your recipe?

When I lived and"chefed" in Phoenix, I worked briefly at a Chicago sports themed place called Dan Ryan's off Camelback Rd. I used to run the traditional Kentucky style Hot Brown for a lunch special and people loved it... I also tinkered with it a little and came up with a "Southwestern " version that was also a big hit(I got tired of explaning to the wait staff what a real Hot Brown is!) For starters, I would make a green chili and cheddar corn bread to use as a base in place of the toast points. Then I would make a "queso" type sauce(emulating Tumbleweed's) instead of Morney. I would then use a nice fresh Pico de Gallo in place of the sliced tomatoes. I did stick with a nice smoked turkey and crispy bacon however.
I also served this at City Cafe and people seemed to like it there as well. Just a little twist on one of my favorite things to eat.(cholesteral be damned)

I've got to do an interview about the Hot Brown and its place in Louisville's dining hierarchy. I can't go evil on it ... talk about "pasty, gloppy sauce" and "bland turkey meat" and "bad white bread" and "greasy bacon loaded with nitrites" and "enough calories to choke a horse" will not be acceptable.

Anybody got <I>good</I> things to say and nostalgic tales to tell about this quintessentially Louisville confection?

You mean the pretentious turkey sandwich?