FOODIE FRIDAY RECIPE - CAPE MAY LOBSTER SANDWICH

Best ever lobster & cheese sandwich!

I recently had the pleasure of a short trip to the New Jersey shore.  No trip to the shore would be complete for me without spending some quality time in Cape May.  Beautiful Cape May is located at southernmost tip of the Garden State and is home to some of the most beautiful historic Victorian homes in the United States.  

For me Cape May is a journey back to my youth.  I have been vacationing there since I was 5 years old.  The beauty of the town is that it never changes.  Businesses come and go but the structures remain intact and as charming as they ever were.  In fact, I think it looks better every year.  I'm rooted in Cape May.  When I'm on the tiny, pristine boardwalk smelling the aroma of roasted nuts from Marrow's Nut House and gazing out across the white sand to the ocean I feel as though time has stood still.

I feel the presence of my parents all around me when I'm in Cape May.  They loved it there.  I watched the first moon landing on a portable black and white TV with my dad while sitting  the steps of the Lafayette Motel which is still there.  The first mini golf courses which sparked my obsession still sparkle.  The church that my mother dragged me to on Sundays, when I would have preferred to be swimming, still watches over the quaint pedestrian mall in the center of town.

On this trip we found ourselves in a local beachfront restaurant for lunch.  This was never one of my "hangouts" as it was usually boisterous and a little too loud with live music and pitchers of beer everywhere but it was convenient and air conditioned.  I looked over the menu and decided on something which sounded odd and oddly interesting.  My Foodie Friday recipes have always been my own or family recipes which have been handed down to me but this week I'm going to share the recipe for that unusual but amazingly delicious lobster & cheese sandwich. This is more about the idea of combining ingredients that you wouldn't necessarily pair and having a truly great surprise.

Ingredients:

good quality grain or ciabatta bread

lobster meat [cooked]

brie

fresh mozzarella

fresh basil leaves

russian dressing

butter

Method:

Make a sandwich by covering the insides of two pieces of bread with the two cheeses.  Top one of the pieces of bread with a lump of lobster meat and then a few leaves of fresh basil.  Add about a tablespoon of russian dressing over the basil and close the sandwich.  Butter the outsides of the sandwich with softened butter and brown in a skillet until toasted on both sides.

This sandwich was halved and arranged on a plate with potato chips and a cup of tomato soup for dunking.  I found the soup to be completely unnecessary and overpowering.  The flavors of the melted cheeses with the hint of sweet from the lobster and Russian dressing work so well with the crisp clean bite of the fresh basil.  This is a gooey, savory elegant sandwich.