Crab-Feta Melt

This week my usual sous chef was out of town, so I took the opportunity to make another delicious seafood sandwich!  This time featuring a more common favorite, jumbo lump crab!  Fortunately, I was able to share this concoction with some of my blog's most avid (only?) readers who I knew would appreciate this sandwich's deliciousness: my family.

Ingredients for this sandwich were mostly standard fare-- feta cheese, celery, mayo, corn, etc., but I was thrown for a loop by the cost of jumbo lump crab!  Well, actually, the recipe just called for "crab: preferably fresh or canned, do not use frozen crab," but the only actual crab meat I could find (that was not imitation crab) was fresh jumbo lump crab (yumm) for the low low price of $28/pound (SAY WHAA?!).  Once I actually thought about it I remembered that whenever I go to restaurants that have actual good lump crab cakes they are priced based on the market price and usually average somewhere in the low $20's, so I suppose this was in line, but I still had a bit of sticker shock (luckily including my family in the tasting this week meant they were kind enough to help offset the cost of additional ingredients-- like the crab).

So now I had all my ingredients and was ready to begin.  I had decided to make 1.5x the recipe, so all of my quantities will be adjusted accordingly to make 6 sandwiches instead of 4.  First I went ahead and grated the jack cheese that would create the melt element atop the crab mixture.  The recipe called for 6 ounces to be distributed over 4 sandwiches, but I really like jack cheese so I went ahead and grated about 10.5 ounces to be distributed over 6 sandwiches.  I also chopped up several small celery sticks for inclusion in the crab mixture.  The recipe called for one large celery rib cut into 1/4 inch dice, but I just guesstimated that about 10 smaller sticks would suffice.

Now I was ready to mix up the crab mixture that would go on the sandwiches. 

I measured out 1.5 cups (3/4 pound) of crab and added 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 3 ounces of crumbled feta cheese, the chopped celery, 1/2 cup drained canned corn and some sprinkles of black pepper.  The recipe called for about 1 tsp. of curry powder, but after the cumin incident I was a bit leery of Indian food spices, so I opted to leave it out.  It also said to add black pepper to taste, but since I wasn't tasting the mixture just yet I went ahead and added a few sprinkles, but not too much.

Once this was mixed I was pretty much ready to go, so preparation had been a cinch!  An added bonus is that you can make the crab mixture the day before and have it already ready to go when you're ready to make the sandwiches.  Cutting down prep time is always a good thing in my opinion.

To assemble the sandwiches I spread the crab mixture evenly over six slices of sourdough bread that had been buttered on one side (buttered side down).

Next I added the jack cheese in the same way-- distributed evenly over the six pieces of bread.  During this step I was again reminded of how much I like the texture of the jack cheese in that it sticks to itself easily which means it's easy to pile it onto the sandwich. 

I topped the sandwiches off with another slice of sourdough and started grilling.

This was my first time since starting my grilled cheesing that I cooked on an electric stove instead of a gas stove.  I found it much easier to work with this type of stove because the pan didn't get too hot too fast and it actually heated to the heat it advertised (i.e. medium high actually meant medium high).  This meant that the sandwiches grilled quickly and evenly, which was great! 

The stove also had a built in warming zone that was perfect for keeping the already made sandwiches warm. 

At first I had some issues with spilled filling during the flips, but once I started flipping more quickly (and sometimes with two spatulas) all was well.  Before I knew it all the sandwiches were done and we were ready to taste them!

Taste Review:

One of the first things we all noticed was that there wasn't a strong seafood smell to the sandwich (probably because crab seems to be one of the milder and more agreeable shellfish out there).  In the first bite I got a perfect mixture of the soft crab and cheese contrasted with the crunchy sweetness of the corn and celery.  It was nice to have the veggies in there to add some texture.  Usually I don't like celery, but it was a good way to add a little water and freshness without really affecting the taste of the sandwich filling.  The filling was rich, but not so creamy that it was too rich.  It reminded one of the tasters of crab imperial, which apparently is crab with a creamy dressing, but I like to think that this wasn't as rich as that would be.  Basically the filling was mostly crab and jack cheese with just enough filler to enhance but not overpower the flavors.

One element that was a standout in the sandwich was the bread!  The sandwich called for sourdough, so I sprung for some nice fresh baked sourdough from the Wegman's bakery and it was worth it!  The bread itself has a firmer texture than a white bread would, but isn't dense like the rye bread was.  This meant that, when toasted, the bread was crispy but not overcooked.  It also had its own taste that was subtle, but definitely added to the flavor.  Everyone had nothing but positive things to say about the bread, which leaves me happy that I've found such a high quality sourdough this early on (considering it will be making many more appearances in the future).

The most interesting thing to me was that you couldn't really taste the feta cheese at all.  When I first saw the title of this recipe I started preparing myself for a sandwich with a strong bite courtesy of the feta.  In reality, I almost forgot it was in there because I couldn't really taste it.  I'm not sure if it was overtaken by the sweet corn and tasty sourdough, but I didn't get that punch that feta usually packs.  It makes me wonder what this sandwich would taste like without the feta.  I know if it's in there it must be doing something, so would the filling be too bland without it?  Good thing we won't be finding out.  Even with the feta it was a little too bland for some, and one of the tasters pondered what it would be like with added seasoning (like more pepper or a roasted red pepper).  I liked it as is, though :-)

Towards the end we started to get a lot of the jack cheese flavor, which made me wonder if the cheese had melted evenly on the sandwich or not.  In some bites I would get a lot of crab and in others I would get a lot of cheese.  Some of the tasters said it was too cheesy for them, but I thought it was a good amount (maybe because I like jack cheese so much).

FINAL RESULTS:

Sandwich:	Crab-Feta Melt
Gooey-ness:	3
Aroma:	2
Appearance:	Perfectly browned and just the right amount of filling!
Taste:	A-

Gooey Scale	Aroma Scale
1 = still cold/hard	1 = can’t smell a thing
2 = slightly melted but still firm	2 = tender waft
3 = melted evenly	3 = makes your stomach growl
4 = melted and slightly runny (starting to get those cheese strings between your sandwich and your mouth when you take a bite)	4 = strong scent
5 = runny	5 = overpoweringly pungent
6 = sloppy mess!

Overall the sandwich was a hit! This is another one that I think would be a good summertime grilled cheese-- the mild creaminess of the jack combined with fresh crab, corn and celery makes a crisp fresh taste that reminds me of summer.


Next Week: A belated Cinco de Mayo celebration with our first quesadilla!