I think this MAY be the most delicious thing I have ever made, eaten, seen, smelled or otherwise come in any contact with over the course of my entire life. This, my friends, is called a Kentucky Hot Brown, and my only regret is that I have gotten to the ripe old age of…well, never mind…and this is the first time I have eaten one. I have a lot of catching up to do.
Here’s how this all happened. Back around Thanksgiving, I found a recipe in the New York Times for a very unusual way of cooking turkey. I finally got around to making it, and let’s just say that it involved a lot of Saran Wrap, a meat thermometer and a steam bath for the turkey, and the stress of it all took about five years off my life. But it resulted in some outstanding tasting turkey. Because of the stress part I am not going to do one of my usual blog posts about it, but if you want to live life on the edge, turkey-wise, you can find the recipe by clicking here. The rest of you can either make your turkey the normal way, or even get some from your friendly neighborhood deli counter – just make sure they slice it thick, about 1/4 inch or so.
Anyhow, as is usually the case with any turkey-cooking, I ended up with a whole lot of leftovers, and I dimly remembered that I had heard of something called a Hot Brown that called for sliced cooked turkey. Googling ensued. Soon I found the original recipe for it, which dates back to a dish from the 1920′s at the Brown Hotel in Kentucky. This recipe called for a QUART of heavy cream, and that was enough to stop even me in my tracks. So I moved on to Bobby Flay’s version of it, which is not slenderizing by any means, but at least uses milk instead of the cream.
To cut to the chase, what you are putting together here is this: a piece of french toast that is topped with sliced turkey, sliced tomato and a succulent cheddar cheese sauce. You run the whole thing under the broiler, lay a couple slices of bacon on top, sprinkle with some chopped parsley, and there you have it. A Kentucky Hot Brown.
Do not let one more second go by without having this yourself. It’s worth roasting a turkey just to have leftovers to make this baby. Kentucky Hot Brown…you heard it here first!
Kentucky Hot Brown, adapted from Bobby Flay’s recipe
Ingredients Directions
I think my waistline just increased by reading this!
How did I live 50 something years and cook everything in sight, and not ever hear of this myself?!….I'll admit though, when I clicked to your page….the bacon had me at "HELLO!" ^_^
Thanks for spreading the Kentucky hot brown love! Now I won't have to go through another second of my life while living in tragic oblivion. Sometimes, ignorance is not bliss. This is one of those times.
I will be trying this very soon! Thank you for posting this, my heart pitter patters when I see the photo!
And why is Kentucky keeping this to themselves? It sounds wonderful- thanks for the illumination.
This is perfect for company.
I will make this on the merit of your statement "I think this MAY be the most delicious thing I have ever made, eaten, seen, smelled or otherwise come in any contact with over the course of my entire life" – a definite confirmation!! Instead of roasting a turkey, will try using the hand carved turkey breast slices in the Deli Department. Thanks for enlightening us on this "hidden" recipe.
Wow, this looks FABULOUS!
my girlfriends at i stayed at the Brown Hotel for my bachelorette party and we meant to get these the next morning in the restaurant… but needless to say, we were far too hungover to do anything but drag our butts home lol! i still have yet to try one and might just make this version! but i'll have to go back to the hotel to get one next time i'm in louisville.
Oh my this looks heavenly, I bet it taste so too! Its making me sooo hungry right now.
Hey! Hi! I'm from Louisville and I make these Hot Browns every year for our Kentucky Derby party. They're just as good as the famous Brown Hotel's. Bobby Flay's is the most authentic recipe out there – I use it too! I'm so glad to see the hot brown popping up in my google reader.
I just made the Original Recipe with swiss because I wanted to twist it up a bit. It was good. Very rich and satisfying for sure. Thanks for the recipe.
We are having a snow day here in NYC, and this would be a perfect hot lunch. It sounds delicious and I love the name. I always love food with a good story/history behind it.
nothing like a delicious Kentucky hash brown! how delicious!