Tag: bacon

Turkey Devonshire: An awesome Pittsburg comfort food.

Have you ever heard of a Turkey Devonshire sandwich? Well I hadn’t until Christmas 2024 when I found myself looking for a recipe for Turkey ala King and discovered the Devonshire sandwich recipe. The photos looked good and hearty and the sauce reminded me kind of eggs benedict, which I love.

The photos I saw featured layers of freshly sliced turkey, bacon and tons of cheese sauce delicately layered over some toasted sourdough bread. Some of the photos had sliced tomatoes jammed in the cheese sauce. None had onion which I think I’m gonna add as a side to my west coast version along with adding a couple of thin slices of ham. The traditional version is excellent but you are welcome to try my version and let me know what you think.

I’m still thinking about a name for my version as I tweak this classic recipe. (The Venician, a Cheesy Bird Sandwich, Turkey Lava, Cheezy P, the Gobbler, the Boardwalk, etc)
I may even create a version served in a roll or with eggs and/or potato’s on the side.

The Turkey Devonshire sandwich originated in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is typically served as a hot open-faced sandwich on toasted bread with hot turkey, bacon, tomatoes and a cheese sauce. The sandwich is similar to a Kentucky Hot Brown, which it will be compared with in a future post.

The Devonshire is credited as being created by Frank Blandi (1907-1999), a Sicilian American, who first served them at the Stratford Club located between Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield and Shadyside neighborhoods. The sandwich was named after Devonshire Street, located one block away. This sandwich was the ‘go to’ in the 1960s and still remains a local favorite 65 years later.

Some say this sandwich design was borrowed by the 21 Club’s popular chicken hash, which was a dish of diced chicken covered in Mornay sauce and then browned which leans towards the Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich.

Frank Blandi’s Original Devonshire Sandwich Recipe

Cheesy Cream Sauce

3/4 stick butter, melted
1 cup flour
1/4 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1 pint chicken broth
1 pint hot milk
1 tsp salt
a splash of Sauv Blanc      (optional)

Melt butter in deep pan and add flour, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and then hot milk, stirring all the while. Add cheese and salt. Bring to boil, then cook slowly for 20 minutes, still stirring. Cool to lukewarm. Beat with wire whip until smooth before using. This makes enough sauce for 6 Devonshire sandwiches.

For each sandwich:

1 slice toast, crusts trimmed off
2 slices crisp bacon
4 thin slices cooked turkey breast
2 thin ham slices         (optional)
thick tomato slice        (optional) 
thin white onion slice    (optional)
sliced or shaved sharp cheddar
Cream Sauce
Melted butter 
Parmesan cheese and paprika

Preheat oven to 450.

In each flat, individual oven-proof casserole dish, place 1 slice of toast and top with 3 slices bacon. Add 5 thin slices of cooked turkey breast. Cover completely with cream sauce. Sprinkle with a little melted butter, then with the combined Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Layer slices of white toast at the bottom of a casserole pan. Layer Turkey, ham and/or crab meat. Cover that with tomato, onion and slices of cheddar cheese and stick it in the broiler to help the flavors blend together. When sufficiently heated pull and top with cheese sauce and bacon slices.

Bon appetit.

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Directions;

Fry bacon and remove from pan.
Drain.
Set aside.
Melt ¾ stick butter and add flour while stirring.
Add chicken broth.
Stir.
Add hot milk.
Stir.
Add cheese and salt.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat.
Cook slowly for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Cool to lukewarm.
Whip cheese sauce with wire beater until smooth.
Place 1 slice toast in a casserole dish and top with sliced bacon.
Add slices turkey.
Cover with the cheese sauce.
Sprinkle with a melted butter, Parmesan cheese and paprika.
Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown

The only options are tomatoes. Most writers who tried it both ways recommended adding the tomatoes, so I included them.
I also took the liberty of adding sliced ham and onion and possibly a few capers to this mix of flavors.

It wouldn’t be weird to prepare this dish on toasted english muffins or oven pop up rolls either.

Enjoy, the Dude of Food

Eggs, bacon and eggplant! for breakfast?

It’s not everyday that you hear about eggplant on your breakfast plate but the other day that is exactly what I made. I had some eggplant left over from the night before along with some potatoes. I cooked up some bacon and then heated the left over eggplant and potatoes in the same pan. Next, I fried up a couple of eggs and made a hearty and delicious breakfast as seen above.

Using leftovers is a fun thing to throw in your breakfast mix. I have warmed up Chinese food from the night before and scrambled a couple of eggs into it on many occasions. Another foodie thing that I do is to scramble up some eggs and throw them on top of slices of warmed up the remaining pizza from the night before. Sometimes I throw out the bottom bun and fold my Breakfast Jacks in half like a taco.

My dog eats chicken so I cook a lot of it. Another thing I like to do is to shred some chicken and scramble it up with some eggs. Top the blend off with a little grated cheddar cheese and black pepper and you’re doing some cool stuff. A variation I like to prepare is after cooking a couple pieces of bacon I drop 2 turkey breast slices in the pan and heat that up before frying up a couple of eggs. Then after patting the grease off the bacon I make a taco out of the turkey breast. Use the heated breast slice like a tortilla I add a half a slice of bacon, some scrambled eggs and a little pinch of grated cheese. Splash with a little salsa verde and you will not be disappointed.

Eggs have been in the diets of humans for many centuries. Records from India show that by 3200 BC wild birds were captured and kept for their egg production. Roman soldiers would eat deviled eggs for snacks and a popular dessert was fried eggs with honey in Rome. Ancient Egyptians ate ostrich eggs.

Interestingly, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays, is credited with the introduction of bacon and eggs into the American breakfast diet after consulting doctors and confirming that eating a big breakfast is better for people.

Lastly, I grew up with chickens in the yard so we always had fresh eggs with dark orange yolks for breakfast. My mom would fry and egg and put it on toast like the photo below from Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen.