The Legendary "Hot Brown" of Louisville, Kentucky

So I went to Louisville, Kentucky for a wedding this weekend and happened to learn about a traditional Louisville dish called “Hot Brown.” The dish was actually created the chefs at the Brown Hotel—the Hotel that I was indeed staying at! Hot Brown is an opened faced turkey sandwich with a creamy sauce. There is a more specific recipe that I will give, but the reason that I am being vague is because it is now made in a variety of ways. Here is the actual recipe from The Brown Hotel’s website itself:

The Legendary Hot Brown Recipe
Ingredients:

4 oz. ButterFlour to make a Roux (about 6 tablespoons)

3 - 3 1/2 cups Milk

1 Beaten Egg

6 tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 oz. Whipped Cream (optional)

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Slices of Roast Turkey

8-12 Slices of Toast (may be trimmed)

Extra Parmesan for Topping

8-12 Strips of Fried Bacon

Directions:
Melt butter and add enough flour to make a reasonably thick roux (enough to absorb all of the butter). Add milk and Parmesan cheese. Add egg to thicken sauce, but do not allow sauce to boil. Remove from heat. Fold in whipped cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For each Hot Brown, place two slices of toast on a metal (or flameproof) dish. Cover the toast with a liberal amount of turkey. Pour a generous amount of sauce over the turkey and toast. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of bacon on top, and serve immediately.

I tried it at a restaurant across the street from the hotel (the horror!) before I knew about the legend, unfortunately. This particular hot brown was made with an alfredo sauce and had tomatoes. I don’t remember if it had bacon as well. I just remembered the extreme cheesiness and sauciness of it all. Overall, it was superb comfort food. It was so exciting to taste a bit of local food history!

http://www.brownhotel.com/dining/hot-brown.html

Grauls Cafe, Timonium

Once again....I'm writing about a supermarket's cafe. I can't help it-- this one is literally behind my house. It does have some odd hours, and is often frequented by people at least 50 times older than me, but I still like it (and it is not because I am secretly hoping to run into John Locke and have another conversation again!!!).

I usually come here for coffee when I am in the mood for something quick and frothy. It is also the first stop before Dan and I go on any long road trips-- a mocha latte for me, some juice for him and pastries for the both of us! What I like about their mocha lattes are they are never too sweet. This is a good thing. There's only so much chocolate milk flavor you can handle when you are actually hoping for some caffeine as well.

Their pastries are varied and yummy. Their chocolate croissants are heavenly and ALWAYS have a LOT of chocolate in the middle (see- what you lack from the coffee, you make up in the pastry). Dan really likes their muffins.

In general, this is a great quick stop in the area, but definitely not worth coming to check out if you're further away than Towson (or maybe even Cockeysville since there are a bunch of cute coffee shops there too).

While we are talking about their cafe, let me quickly say something about the grocery store itself. Grauls gives out A LOT of samples on the weekends and they are always great! Their employees behind the deli are usually in a foul mood, but the rest of the peeps are great. They have really delicious carrot cake, brownies, pastries, fruit tarts etc etc. They make their sushi in-store, and I've seen the same sushi chef for YEARS (he does a great job).

That being said, if I wanted to pick milk up fast, or get some deli meat (Shopper's deli meat ALWAYS gets slimy on me before the end of the week), or maybe pick up some unusual cheese and don't feel like going to Wegman's-- then this is the place for me. Other than that, the main groceries get done at either Sam's Club (don't judge me) or Shopper's.

Miss Shirley's, Roland Park

I really love Miss Shirley's. I love the location. I love the atmosphere. I love how I feel when I know I am going. I love the menu. I love THE FOOD.

I discovered Miss Shirley's a couple of years ago when it was in its old location across the street. I remember getting lunch but wishing in my mind that I had ordered breakfast instead. In fact, there was one menu item in particular I wished I had ordered: Coconut cream stuff french toast with bruleed bananas. I mean, seriously? If you've been reading this blog long enough, or if you know me well enough (and the two people that read this blog do) you know that I love sweets. But I digress. The appetizer that I really enjoy are the sweet potato fries with mango ketchup and lemon aioli on the side ($4.25). The mango ketchup is by far the more superior dip, and I also like the fact that anyone can make it. I bet it's pretty much mango puree (buy it in a can) and ketchup mixed together. I can't distinguish any other flavors other than those two, which is fine with me. The fries themselves are soft and perfectly salted. I also really like the presentation.



I, of course, ordered the French toast ($11) and cut into it with moans and sighs of pure love. The serving is ridiculously huge and I can never eat all of it, so if you eat with me at Miss Shirley's, you will probably have half of this meal. I LOVE the creamy middle of the french toast and I love pairing that with the soft bread and strawberries on the side. The bruleed bananas are sugared perfection- really crispy and not burnt at all. I really love everything about this dish, other than the fact that I probably consume 5 million calories in 20 minutes (ok fine, 10).


The one disappointment was Dan's Seafood salad for $17. It was caesar salad with a horseradish caesar dressing, crab, shrimp and a ton of old bay. It didn't appeal to me, and unfortunately it didn't appeal to Dan either when he tried it. The horseradish sauce completed overwhelmed the dish, the old bay didn't seem to fit with the dressing, and the grilled shrimp were cold. There wasn't anything to complain about to the kitchen, I think this was purely something that had to do with taste.

What I felt promising though was even though Dan disliked his main dish, he still really loved the place. He enjoyed the sweet potato fries and he loved my dish (who wouldn't!!!) and he said he would happily come again. Considering that he hated his main dish-- that's pretty impressive!

If I come again, I would probably try and convince someone to split the french toast and a savory dish with me-- they all looked so great!

Miss Shirley's
www.missshirleys.com
513 W Cold Spring Ln
Baltimore, MD 21210
(410) 889-5272

Taharka Brothers, Mount Washington

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this place!

Oh sweet deliciousness. Oh sweet love of all things icey and creamy. This is my ode to you.

Well, as you can see, I love Taharka Brothers ice cream (formerly Sylvan Beach). This is a new discovery of mine, even though I've known about them and their mission for a while. At Artscape I tried the key lime pie flavor and I'm not sure if it was because I was highly dehydrated and extremely sweaty, but that creamy delight was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I mean, it tasted like a key lime pie! Crust and all! The lime flavor wasn't overpowering but just enough to make me feel citrusy cool. I went again to their cute shop in Mount Washington (which stays open really late) and ordered their strawberry ice cream and that was ALSO incredible. Everything seems so fresh and so pure-- you know that the ingredients are the real thing.

Oh I can't wait to try more.

Oh yes, and on top of that they serve the community by teaching at-risk youth about business and entrepreneurship. It feels good to eat ice cream!

Piedigrotta, Federal Hill

Dan and I LOVE ribbon cake. Do you know about ribbon cake? I'm pretty sure it's a Mid-Atlantic delight. At first I thought it may have been a Baltimore thing, but then I saw it at the Amish market and I took that thought back.

Ribbon cake is made of the same cake slice, just colored like a rainbow and the fillings are either chocolate or raspberry jam. This cake had raspberry jam (chocolate is usually the filling you find at markets), and that pretty much sold it for me. However, it was $3.97 a slice which is kind of hefty if you think about it. But I tell myself that I would never make ribbon cake myself so I don't mind paying for it.

We found this beauty at the Cross Street Market in Federal Hill, but they also have a main shop in Little Italy. To be honest, the cake was good but not great. The cake itself seemed a little stale, but the filling was lovely and paired really well with the chocolate icing. If there had been chocolate filling it would have been a bit too much, especially because the chocolate icing was already sweet as it is.

I wouldn't be against trying anything else from this place, but I would more likely try it from their shop in Little Italy than their stand at Cross Street.

Piedigrotta
Cross Street Market, Federal Hill

1300 Bank Street, Suite 140
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-522-6900
www.piedigrottabakery.com

Christopher Daniel, Timonium

Christopher Daniel is the type of place where you walk in and will immediately feel the snobbery in the room. I'm just being honest here. It's the type of place where people get dressed up to eat here (and once again, this place is in a random strip mall) and you are almost obliged to drink expensive wine or a crazy martini. Well, i didn't do any of those things and I still had a great time. Why? Because the food was good. And I mean GOOD.

They first brought some yummy type of focaccia bread to the table while we waited for dinner, which was great. My meal itself was YUM. I ordered the pan seared scallops which came with a vegetable risotto and "crispy basil." Ok, the crispy basil was one leaf of basil stuck in the middle of the risotto as a garnish. Please do not write a garnish in a menu description. The scallops were perfect-- buttery and tender. The risotto was yummy, but I was disappointed with the vegetables because I'm pretty sure they were from the vegetable medley frozen bag, you know, the kind with carrots, green beans and corn. This meal was about $24.

My mother-in-law ordered the beef short ribs which were braised in red wine sauce and honestly the best ribs I have EVER tasted. The meal came with green beans and mashed potatoes which I didn't try. That was about $26.

My hubby ordered the burger, which came with fries and coleslaw. It was really great and only about $10! The seasoning was yummy, and it was NOT dripping with oil. It was a perfect burger.

The waitress brought out their flourless chocolate cake since we were celebrating my birthday, which was a really nice touch and NOT AT ALL what I would expect from that place. The torte itself was good, but I think I would have rather tried the ricotta cheesecake with mangoes. Doesn't that sound heavenly!?

Overall, I can't imagine having a reason to go back to that place anytime soon since we would just be able to order burgers, and I would never order just a meal of burgers in their dining room. They do have a martini bar next door (which was apparently hopping based on loud it was) so maybe I would go there and order some "lite fare" instead.

Christopher Daniel
106 W. Padonia Road
Timonium, MD 21093
410-308-1800
http://www.christopher-daniel.com/ (Don't trust the menu on this website, the dinner options are very different when I went)

India Palace, Cockeysville

There is a lot I could write about India Palace's food, considering they catered an event during my wedding weekend, but I wanted to write about their weekday lunch buffet for $7.95.

First of all, they seem to always have a lot of dishes for vegetarians, and they also change around their dishes from time to time, so you can try lots of different meals! I love their Chicken Tikka Masala and their Korma anything (usually with lamb, but they probably would notoffer this at a buffet considering the price).

Service is really fast, they refill AND stir their dishes constantly (take note, Parsa Kabob!), and seriously-- how can you beat their price?

If you find yourself in Cockeysville during the week and fancy a delicious buffet-- check out India Palace and steer clear of Parsa Kabob.

UPDATE 11/19/09: Check out my newest post

Quizno's, Everywhere USA

Sammies. They look very big and full, do not be deceived. But they are delicious.

I’m going to be brief because this is a huge chain, and most people have already made up their minds about getting food at chains. I just want to comment that for $2, Sammies are a GREAT deal. They are actually pretty delicious and I like the fact that I can get 2 different kind of sandwiches for lunch. That really appeals to me, as well as the fact that Quizno’s is right outside my building. I chose the Turkey Sonoma and Italiano and they were both up to par with usual Quizno’s sandwiches. Good deal.

www.quiznos.com

Cosi, Everywhere USA

Simply good taste if you don't get the salad

Cosi is at the foot of my building, and what I have to pass everyday morning and evening. Let’s just be honest here and say that most of the employees know and wave to me when I see them. I really love it for their breakfasts. I like to order the breakfast bundle which is a bagel and medium mocha latte (or medium house coffee) for around $4.80. Considering that a medium mocha latte is already in the $4.50—this is a good deal. Their cranberry orange bagel is HEAVENLY when toasted with a bit of the plain cream cheese (don’t be tempted to get the fruit trio cream cheese, this bagel is sweet enough).

However, I’ve had their lunch a couple of times and have been disappointed 2 out of 3 times. Their Alaskan salmon salad is pretty terrible because the salmon is cold. They say chilled in the description, but really it’s cold and therefore has no flavor. The salad would be ten times better if they just heated up the salmon.

I also just tried the Seasonal Fruit and Mozzarella Salad. This was equally terrible. First of all they describe the dressing as a “light citrus dressing” but whatever it was, it was citrus-ly disgusting, which really surprises me because I like those types of dressings on my salad….but it was just off. The mozzarella were TINY little cubes of some white stuff that had no taste. And I mean tiny. Smaller than a pinkie fingernail tiny. The fruit itself, which consisted of strawberries, cantaloupe and pineapple, was good but I didn’t need to spend $8 on a crappy salad just to eat some fruit—that’s what farm stands are for!

To make up for this review, however, I will say that I do like their Bombay Chicken salad and sandwich. That’s the one thing they do right. Oh, and their bread. Their amazing bread. Yes, they do that right too.

www.getcosi.com

Spoons Coffeehouse and Roastery, Federal Hill

This was the first Green Certified restaurant in Maryland!!!! They are 100% wind powered, have solar panels on their roof, and provide sustainable wine and beer (and smoothies that I want to try. Oh yes, and they are delicious, I guess I should mention that as well.

This really cute coffeehouse in Federal Hill is near the Cross Street market. It has a spunk-y vibe to it that I really liked, even at 8am. We decided to order breakfast, and like usual I had to get the craziest things on the menu, not something normal and guaranteed delicious.

I ordered the Raven's Nest which was like the V for Vendetta meal-- egg in the middle of toast, which came with home fries and turkey sausage (out of the choice of bacon, ham etc). I also tried the broiled grapefruit half covered with vanilla-ginger sugar. How amazing does that sound!!! And it tastes just as great too. What's also great about that, is that you could DEFINITELY make it at home. As for the Raven's Nest, the egg was yummy, but I found the toast a little too buttery. I hardly ate that part, but just the egg (runny!) with the home fries and sausage. I LOVED the home fries! They were seasoned with rosemary and other stuff I couldn't place (but oh how I tried).

Dan ordered the French Toast which was excellent. It was really moist and fluffy, and as you can see, a great portion. Of course, he polished that up in a second.

Overall, this is a really great place for breakfast or lunch. There's such a laid back vibe, and because they're such a green restaurant I felt so happy eating here. I love places like that! All I wanted to do was talk to people about sustainability etc. I didn't though.

Please try this place!

Spoon's Coffeehouse and Roastery
24 E. Cross St
Baltimore, MD 21230
410-539-6751