Brioche-Crab Melts

Manami's Note:

Recipe by Vitaly Paley, published in F&W magazine, February 2006 edition. Chef Paley, chef and owner of Paley's Place, created this deliciously indulgent version of the classic tuna melt while competing in a cook-off sponsored by the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Pairing moist chunks of crab with brioche, truffle butter and nutty Gruyere cheese easily snagged him a first-place prize.;) The crab salad can be refrigerated overnight!! From Winemakers On Board: Oregon Pinto Noir and Snowboarding.

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 8 small roundbrioche bread or 8 small buttery dinner rolls , split crosswise
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened (truffle butter is what Chef Paley used but it was not feasible!)
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup minced red onion
• ¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• ½ granny smith apple , quartered lengthwise cored and thinly sliced crosswise
• 3 dashes hot sauce
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb lump crabmeat , picked over
• 1 ½ cups shredded gruyere cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Spread the cut sides of the brioche or dinner rolls with the unsalted butter (or truffle butter) and set on a baking sheet, cut sides up.
3. Broil the rolls 6 inches from the heat, until toasted.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F degrees.
5. In a large bowl, mix the mayonnaise, red onion, parsley, lime juice, apple and hot sauce and season with salt and pepper; fold in the crabmeat.
6. Set the top halves of the rolls aside.
7. Top the bottoms with the crab salad and sprinkle with the Gruyere.
8. Bake in the upper third of the oven until the cheese is melted.
9. Close the crab melts and serve.