miniature hot browns

[judywendt]

I'm having a Derby party for 50 people so everything needs to be done pretty much ahead.
I'm trying to devise a take on hot browns using, perhaps, miniature bread cups, filo cups,
puff pastry cups, whatever would work. I figure I need to put turkey, cheese, or cheese sauce, bacon and a tiny tomato on top (this part can be done at the time.) ANy suggestions on whether I could assemble these the day before and bake at party? Whatever cups I use would be pre-baked.
This is not a sitdown affair. Thanks for any input!

[mamaciita]

I made Reubens in phyllo for our last Holiday party because I needed things I could make ahead. I got the recipe from the Athens website (the company that makes the phyllo cups) and adapted it so that I ended up with spanakopita-esque triangles filled with the ingredients for a Reuben. They froze beautifully.

You could probably assemble your Hot Browns ahead as long as you leave off the tomato. I suggest a trial run--it took me about three attempts to get my Reubens just right.

Have a great party!

[greygarious]

I agree with Mamaciita - phyllo triangles are great for finger food. They have that irresistably crispy outside, and completely encase the filling, minimizing drips. If you follow the package/web handling instructions, phyllo won't fight you. You just need to take precautions to keep it from drying out. If a sheet tears, just use it as an inner layer. As long as the first sheet you lay down is intact, patching the other layers is fine. I once ran short of butter when making phyllo hors d'oeuvres, so I sprayed the inside layers with Pam and reserved the butter for the outside. That became my standard method - it's way easier to spray than brush (which can rip the sheets). Brushing the outside with butter gave enough butter flavor to fool the taste buds.

[judywendt]

Thanks to you both! I've been messing around today with bread cups (From New Basics, Silver Palate) and just using pie crust dough. I think I've got it. I can bake cups from pie crust dough ahead and freeze them. I can make filling - diced turkey breast, mornay sauce, cheddar cheese day before. ALso can fry bacon, crumble and freeze. Then (I will have a helper) fill cups at serving time and top with bacon. On removal from oven, will top with a slice of grape tomato. Thanks again! I love the filo idea for the ruebens. I've worked with it before and it really is forgiving.