This recipe is spot on and stays true to the original Brown Hotel recipe. As someone who does not like turkey, the rich, creamy mornay sauce made it delightfully palatable. The sauce was perfectly smooth and silky and tasted like an elegant white country gravy. Pecorino cheese makes all of the difference in the world. It’s pricey, but well worth the indulgence. I believe I added at least 1/4tsp. or more of black pepper, about 1/8tsp. nutmeg(I love nutmeg), and skipped the cayenne pepper. I used up some leftover turkey, so I didn’t make that part of the recipe. A thick Texas style toast is a must--buttered and grilled in a skillet until golden brown. Then assembled as directed. So good! Did I mention it’s rich? Mmmm!
Made it exactly like chef John said. It was wonderful and easy!
I live in Louisville Ky and have had the hot brown at the Brown Hotel and it is amazing! I made this hot brown and it was ok but not like the original. The 2 tablespoons of salt it calls for I'm so glad i didn't put that in this recipe! I used 1 teaspoon instead and it was very salty!! For one thing you have the salt from the cheese too. I'm a salt lover but this was so salty. Other than that it was just ok.
Wonderful I did not have the 'de provencia or what ever spice it called for. I found bakery bread with that in it which added a wonderful flavor. Yummy
another winner from chef john. i followed the recipe exactly and it was very tasty. the only snafu was that i discovered my broiler is on the fritz when i went to finish them so i had to finish them using the hot oven. regardless it was still extremely tasty. i used the pecorino romano but i could definitely see where a good sharp cheddar would work too.
Another excellent recipe from Chef John. The Mornay needed quite a bit of seasoning and I ended up using at least 3/4 cup of Romano to get it just right. I've never been to Louisville to have the original so I have nothing to compare against but the final result was really really good! That tomato is just PERFECT in there. I have a lot of turkey and sauce left over so I'm going to try a few modifications tomorrow. I think I'll try using toasted rye or pumpernickle bread and slice the turkey a bit thinner and add a few thin slices of ham. Can't wait. I highly recommend this recipe.
I made it exactly the way it said, next time i will make all 4 in one baking dish
I lived in Evansville, IN, and often traveled to Louisville on business. No trip to Louisville was complete without lunch at the Brown Hotel experiencing their famous open face sandwich. Chef John’s interpretation is quite good, although I eliminated the added salt the second iteration. (I believe that the saltiness of the pecorino Romano cheese and the bacon add sufficient salt to this dish.
Thank you Chef John! I made this Hot Brown post Kentucky Derby. The only change I made was to add a pinch of paprika to the Mornay sauce and again to the top of the Hot Brown; furthermore, I did not add any additional pecorino romano cheese to the top of the Hot Brown. The lack of the later addition probably accounts for the non plus of the browning on the top of my dish as it lacked the fat to accommodate a proper brown.