Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Little help from the real cooks please!

A local eating establishment, since defunked, had this to die for dish. It was called "Alabama Hot Brown." The "base" was a small block of deep fried grits. Stay with me! They'd cook up a pot of grits, then they spoon it in to small containter about 3"x3"x1" deep. The grits cooled and "set up". Then they'd deep fry the little brick of grits golden brown. It made a nice crust with creamy but thick grits inside. Ok, block of fried grits, topped with thin slices of smoked turkey, a slice or 2 of good red in season tomato that had been grilled just long enough to put some grill marks on it, and topped finally with a jalepeno cheese sauce. And I aint talking no "queso dip". It was a smooth creamy sauce with some heat to it, and was pretty smooth but you could see some flecks of jalepeno. Like a hollindaise or beurre blanc sauce but cheesy and spicy.

I have taken a stab at the grits, and they just don't seem right. Too tough a crust even when its the right color. And the sauce...any ideas on this cheesy sauce with jalepenos and how to acheive it? If you've seen any of these or their like Id love to hear from you.

Im tellin' you this stuff was IT! The place that served it was the River Market and Deli just outside of Cahaba Heights, a suburb of Birmingham.

Don't look like Lutefisk or boiled oysters to me so I am of no help.

Bullwnkl.

This is just a variation on the famous "Kentucky Hot Brown" dish. They serve it there as an open faced sandwich. Turkey, ham, bacon, on bread, topped with a creamy cheese sauce.

I believe if you cooked your grits in the normal fashion, then turned them into a buttered casserole, and refrigerated until cool and set, you could get about the same effect.

When the grits are cool, you would slice it like Polenta, and then saute in butter until crusty.

Sauce is no big deal. Here, its essential that you use a heavy pan. I make roux in an enameled cast iron saucepan. I would use a basic medium white sauce, grate in the cheese so it melts evenly, and season. For the liquid that you add after the roux is the proper color, mix a half a bottle of Guiness with the milk or cream. Pull the pan off the heat when you add the cheese, so it does not seperate. Extra sharp cheddar would work.For the jalepenos, I would chop them fine, and then run through the little food processor that comes with that Braun Stick blender. Maybe throw in a bit of onion as well. Pureed like that, it will blend well with the cheese sauce. Salt and some white pepper. A dash of hot Hungarian Paprika adds a nice flavor.

I figured you'd know! Thank you so much. When googling this I ran across the Kentucky Hot Brown and thought is sounded like a variation. Thanks for your help!

Hmmmmmm... sounds tasty.....

I tried a Kentucky hot brown just several weeks ago for the first time. The sauce reminded me of Welsh rarebit. You might google that and see if you get some recipes that would help.

I agree that is very close...but with jalapeno, though smooth. I'm guessing proper Welsh Rarebit starts with a roux.

IIR it's beer, cheese and mustard. The variation of the sauce I had on the Kentucky hot brown was not roux based.