Sep 7 2011

Here’s one for the boys…

Posted by WiseMóna

Posted under: Kitchen

This blog post was inspired by Hester Casey from Alchemy in the Kitchen blog. If you have never seen her blog, pop over for a visit and tell her I sent you. In her most recent post (for garlic aioli) Hester spoke of how food evokes memories and it opened up a Pandoras-box-full of memories for me. Whilst she was writing about mayonnaise I was thinking about mornay sauce. Do not ask how my mind wanders. It just does.

I was reminded of the first time I ate at this quirky little restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, called Lynns Paradise Café. Memories of meeting friends for what has got to be one of the best brunches in the world awakened in my brain. Images of beautiful Bloody marys, presented in tall frosted glasses with seven or eight olives and spicy pickled peppers on a skewer to liven up your Sunday hangover, are etched in my minds eye. If you live anywhere near Louisville, KY and have never eaten there, then go there and eat lots. If you are no where near that part of the world, then like them on Facebook and make a promise to visit them someday if you ever get to Kentucky!

Nine layer salad made with beets, tomatoes, courgette, celery, raw garlic, onion, rocket, cheese & hardboiled egg.

There I was — wandering around my mind and let’s face it there is a lot of space to wander — remembering the beautiful brunch at Lynns Paradise Café, when the Chef bellowed in to my daydreaming with his own memory. One of the best ‘hot browns’ he’d ever had. That must have been why I was thinking of mornay sauce?

So Hot Brown it was for supper. For those of you that do not know what the heck a ‘hot brown’ is, it is just a fancy name for a toasted turkey and cheese sandwich with sauce. A very tasty sandwich.

As a side note to all the locals out there, Lidl had turkey breast on sale for €3.99 last week. We bought a couple and they are mighty tasty.

Slow roasted Turkey breast.

The best way to treat turkey (or chicken) breast, is gently. If you tried to roast this in a hurry you will end up with dry rubber. Do you like dry rubber? No. So rub it down with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle generously with maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Now, leave it to roast at 200 c/400 f for 20 minutes until it browns, then reduce to 160 c/325 f for one hour.

If allowed to cook at a low and slow (low heat for an hour) the turkey will be moist and delicious.

Once the turkey has finished cooking, allow it to rest for a bit so it retains all its juices.

When ready, slice thinly for your Hot Brown sandwich.

All lined up. Bread, mornay sauce, turkey, cheese………but where's the bacon?

Mornay Sauce

Recipe Type: Sauce

Author: WiseMóna

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 2-4

This is a very versatile sauce. I first learned to make this in home economics class. I was thirteen. I have never forgotten the simplicity of the recipe and have made it work with so many dishes over the years by adding a new spice or item to vary it as needed. Traditionally gruyere cheese was used, but you can substitute your favourite cheddar or another hard cheese.

Ingredients

1.5 oz / 45 g butter
1.5 oz / 45 g plain flour
16.5 oz / 480 ml warmed milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
2 oz / 60 g cheese (we use cheddar and gruyere)
1 oz / 15 g Coleman’s English mustard powder

Instructions

First, melt your butter in a decent size pot over medium heat.
Add in the flour using a small balloon whisk stirring constantly until your roux looks yellow and light. (might take a minute).
Do not let the roux brown. It will taste like burnt flour if you do.
Slowly pour in the milk and the mustard powder all the while mixing with your whisk.
The sauce will begin to thicken and come to a boil after two or three minutes.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Allow to simmer for another minute or two.
Stir in the cheese and whisk until melted.

Look honey – both hands…….

Now that you have the recipe for the sauce you can make your own Hot Brown sandwich anytime.

All you need is a few slices of turkey, a few pieces of toast, some grated cheese, a slice of bacon or two, your mornay sauce and a few ripe tomatoes.

Irish Food - Turkey hot brown with garden tomatoes

Just a fancy toasted sandwich really

Coat the toast with the sauce, then layer on the bacon and grated cheese and a bit more sauce. Then top with the sliced tomatoes.

Sizzling in the oven for a minute to melt the cheese

Place this in the oven for a few minutes until it starts to bubble.

Not so brown….but very very tasty

Serve with a beautiful salad and hope that the healthfulness of the salad will combat the excess cheese used in this recipe.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

No related posts.

Like this post? Subscribe for free by email to get notified of new posts.

6 Comments + Add Comment

Lorna Gray September 7, 2011 at 9:24 pm

Yummy!

Reply
- WiseMóna September 7, 2011 at 9:28 pm
  
  Twas yummy……they all approved. Imagine, cheese and bread and turkey. How could you go wrong?
  
  Reply
Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen September 8, 2011 at 9:36 pm

Mona, am thrilled to inspire a dish from your kitchen! This *HOT* Brown looks amazing and has sparked even further food memories of Joni’s Coffee Roaster in Marina Del Ray. Sigh!

Reply
- WiseMóna September 8, 2011 at 9:46 pm
  
  See – food does that. Memories keep flooding and there is always food involved and lots of fun!
  Hope to see you at Bord Bia #IrishFoodPics
  Móna
  
  Reply
  - Hester @ Alchemy in the Kitchen September 8, 2011 at 10:24 pm
    
    I was hoping you’d be there – can’t wait to meet you!
    
    Reply
    - WiseMóna September 8, 2011 at 10:44 pm
      
      Me too. It will be a great experience for sure.
      
      Reply

Got anything to say? Go ahead and leave a comment!

About Móna
I am a native Galway girl that seems to be drawn to professions that rhyme with 'err'. Writer, Mother, Restauranteur, Wedding Planner, Dishwasher, Grass cutter, Cocktail maker. I suppose you could say I am a well rounded entrepreneur.
You can find me here