Week 6 - Kentucky

Hello from the Bluegrass State! This week took us to the first of four "Commonwealths" in the United States, and back to one of the states that I recruited in during my first four years at High Point University.  Kentucky was always a great place to visit, and I had a lot of fun exploring Lexington and Louisville and the Bourbon Trail that wove itself across the state.  Maybe too much fun exploring...

I got some input on this one from an old high school/college buddy Bill (he suggested catfish and hushpuppies, but also mentioned something that you could really only find in Kentucky so I went with that).  The Kentucky Hot Brown is a Derby favorite.  Originating in the Brown Hotel in Louisville (Lou-uh-vull, not Louis-ville or Louie-ville), it's an open faced sandwich drenched in cheese sauce and is super tasty. I had my fair share of them when I visited Kentucky (that is to say...I had way too many...)

I decided to make a version of this dish for my family.  But instead of just making individual sandwiches, I found a recipe that turned the Hot Brown into a casserole.


Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole

2 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sage
1 tablespoon salt
Juice and zest from one lemon
1 package turkey bacon
1 loaf gluten free bread
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 large eggs
3 cups milk
2 cups Parmesan cheese, divided
Two tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons parsley


For this recipe, I first prepared the chicken.  I combined the chicken breasts, softened butter, garlic, sage, salt, and the juice and zest from one lemon into a dish and baked it all at 350 for 20 minutes.

While the chicken was baking, I diced the loaf of bread into one inch cubes and set them on a baking tray...

When the chicken was done baking, I put the bread cubes into the oven and baked them for about 5 minutes, just to toast them a bit. I then removed the cubes and mixed them in a large bowl with the melted butter, eggs, and 1 cup of the cheese. I shredded the baked chicken breasts and added this to the bowl as well.

I then mixed the milk, butter, flour, and remaining cheese in a small sauce pan.

Finally, I cooked up the turkey bacon until it was good a crispy...

I poured the bread and chicken mixture into a casserole dish, and the poured the cheese sauce over all of it.  I topped the casserole with the bacon crumbles, the diced tomatoes, and the parsley.  I baked everything again at 350 for another 20 minutes.

The result...

Was delicious! After the failure of my pepperoni rolls the week before, coming back with a winner was very much needed.  And this recipe is definitely a keeper.  The gluten free bread was actually a really good substitute, and the flavors all melded together to form what I remembered of the Hot Browns I'd tried back in Kentucky.  I can see this one as being a great use for leftovers for Thanksgiving turkey, and the left overs from the casserole itself were great for breakfast as well.

We pared up this regional delicacy with another famous Kentucky product...

One day I'll actually take my wife with me when I head back for a trip through the Bourbon Trail. For now, we're fortunate enough that this will have to do.