Kentucky Hot Brown Bites for Derby Day!

Everyone knows about the mint julep, but how many of you know about Kentucky Hot Browns? 

There's a hotel in Louisville called The Brown Hotel. During the 20's it would draw as many as 1,200 guests for its' dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and would want a little something to eat. They were getting bored with ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. Enter The Hot Brown!

I found this mini version on Steph's blog, Plain Chicken. The crescent rolls give it the bready texture of a hot brown, but I can see these made with puff pastry, with filo...even plain pie crust. Anything you have handy.

Kentucky Hot Brown Bites

From Plain Chicken

Ingredients:

For the Mornay Sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

Pinch of freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1/2 cup coarsely grated Gruyère or Swiss

For the Hot Brown Bites:

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls

1 cup finely chopped turkey

1 cup mornay sauce

2 slices bacon, chopped

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Mornay Sauce:

Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. (Do not let mixture brown.) Add milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a low boil, and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese.  Allow to cool slightly.

Bites:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl combine finely chopped turkey and mornay sauce.

Lightly spray a mini muffin pan with non stick cooking spray.

Unroll crescent rolls and press dough into one large rectangle. Cut rectangle into 24 squares. Press dough squares into muffin cups and shape up around the edges.

Fill each muffin cup with some of the turkey mixture. Top each bite with some diced tomato, bacon and Parmesan cheese.

Bake 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.