I’ve probably told this story a time or two, but when I moved back to Milwaukee, one of the first restaurants my wife and I ate at, only taking a moment to open the door to our new apartment, was a Chinese/American restaurant on the east side of Milwaukee. Â The restaurant was slow on that night but we were greeted with the nicest server we probably ever encountered. One thing that my wife was crazy about was the crab rangoon. Up until that time of my life I do not think I ever had a crab rangoon. But as we popped these crispy cheese and fake crab meat things into our mouths, I could tell why my wife loved them so much. They were good.
A couple of years later I began doing a lot of cooking as I grew unhappy with the quality of food in Milwaukee. I’m no food snop, don’t get me wrong, but the quality of food and for the cost, I just knew I could make something taste better in my own home for half the cost. Crab rangoons became one of those items.
It was only last week when I made wonton soup for the family where I decided to surprise my wife with a batch of warm shrimp rangoons, not the fake crab. The shrimp added a slightly different texture to them, and in my opinion were better than imitation crab any day.  As I only made about twelve of the shrimp rangoons, I had plenty of cheese and shrimp mixture left, which led me to create this new grilled cheese sandwich.
Lets get started.
Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]
- 1 lb of cooked shrimp, deveined, tails removed
- 1/2 cup of green onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 2 slices of ciabatta bread, lightly buttered
Begin by adding the shrimp to a food processor, and pulse it a few times to break it up a little. Remove the shrimp from the processor and add it to a mixing bowl. Add in the green onions, sauces, pepper, and cream cheese, and fold until everything is nicely mixed.
Next, heat a skillet on medium heat. I like to use cast iron, and being mindful to watch the heat. Lightly butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay the slice of bread, butter side down, onto the skillet. Generously add the shrimp rangoon mixture, then top with the other slice of bread, butter side up.
Cook the sandwich on a medium to low heat, lifting a few minutes ahead into cooking to check your nice golden brown color. Once you have achieved your golden brown, carefully flip over, and cook on the other side, until you have a golden brown.
Now your sandwich is ready. To serve, slice in half on the diagonal and plate.
The result is this fantastically, creamy grilled cheese that reminds you not only of a great crab, or should I say shrimp rangoon, but also of that comforting grilled cheese.
So remember, if you are making crab, or shrimp rangoons in the near future, save a bit extra, and make yourself one of these shrimp rangoon grilled cheese sandwiches! Enjoy.