This is for those who said the recipe is too bland. It's your own dang fault for not putting enough salt and pepper in it. I have an almost identical recipe and it calls for a teaspoon of salt and a dash of cayenne pepper.
I've done my own "america's test kitchen" for the Hot Brown and this recipe (with only one minor alteration) was the BEST! If you find the cheese sauce "bland" use fresh grated parmesan (it should be a little stinky) and ground pepper. It should be all you need. My only alteration? I like to put the tomato on TOP of the cheese sauce so it gets a bit broiled too. Then i add the bacon. It's a heart attack on a plate but it sure is good!
I never had the pleasure of eating one of these at the Brown, but my mom used to make them all the time. She always made a cheese sauch with cheddar cheese seasoned with paprika and sprinkled parmesean on top. She also used both ham and turkey. I make Mom's dish as a traditional Christmas dinner and instead of indivudal servings (a proper hot brown should be served on a heated ceramic dish!!) I bake it in a large glass casserole. Whether using Mom's recipe or this one, Hot Browns are one of my favorite meals!
Loved it! Open faced hot turkey sandwich with cheese gravy and crispy bacon...what's not to love? I left out the egg since it was already thickened and then added 3 tablespoons of heavy cream just because if 2 is good 3 is better and I was using 2% milk so compensating. I was heavy handed with the parmesan cheese in the sauce. I'll bet I used almost 1/2 cup worth. I used mesquite smoked turkey shaved (the sandwich meat kind) and it turned out great. My husband loves turkey sandwiches and he really enjoyed this dish too. Great comfort food a keeper for sure! I can't believe I waited so long to try this winner thanks!!!
My family and I live in Louisville KY and absolutely love this recipe. This is exactly how hot brown is supposed to taste. Thank you.
If you have never had one of these I would suggest thinking twice before going to all the trouble to make this. We love turkey and bacon together but did not like this at all. The sauce is far too thick and bland we couldn't even taste the parmesan cheese. I took a few bites and then threw it away. I was asked to never make this again not that I would want to.
I would give this more stars if I could. I will admit I used the recipe from the Brown Hotel and it called for pecorino-romano cheese (which I used a cup of) and didn't use an egg. Amazing sandwich.
These were very very good....and VERY rich. I didn't have oven proof dishes large enough to lay 2 pieces of toast so we put one piece of toast lots of oven roasted turkey sliced tomato cheese gravy another slice of toast more cheese gravy freshly grated Parm and bacon. Placed under the broiler util lightly browned. YUM! I did use about double the amount of Parm in the cheese sauce and a lot of pepper for a little more flavor. We will make these again next year for the Derby and the year after that and after that.... Thanks for sharing!
This is good but should not be called the "original hot brown." The original recipe from the Brown Hotel does not contain milk egg or parm cheese.
