When I was in grade school, the cafeteria ladies
used to serve something called Cheese Salad. It was some sort of cheesy
comestible served between two pieces of white bread; I loved it. When I would
come home and try to explain to my mother what this was, she did not know what
I was talking about (this was not usual). As I got older, I learned that it was
really pimiento cheese, and thus my lifetime love affair began. As a
consequence of my love, I am determined to try absolutely every recipe that crosses
my path. This one is from cookbook authors Matt and Ted Lee, known as the Lee
Brothers. I’d like to say that it is my favorite variety of pimiento cheese
thus far, but truth be told, every bowl of pimiento cheese is my favorite. And,
in the interest of full disclosure, I took liberties with this recipe. All I
had on hand by way of cheddar was an 8-ounce block of smoked cheddar, so I used
it. Oh, mama! Is this ever good. So, follow their recipe, or change things up a
bit and do what I did, then you can spread it on crackers, use it as a dip for
crudités, or enjoy it as I did back in the day, slathered between two pieces of
white bread. Me? I really don’t need any vehicle to move pimiento cheese into my
mouth. All I need is a spoon.
The Lee Brothers’ Pimiento Cheese
8 ounces extra-sharp
cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup
cream cheese (2 ounces), softened, diced
Scant 1/2 cup Melissa’s Fire
Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers (from
a 7-ounce jar), finely diced
3 tablespoons Duke’s
mayonnaise
½ teaspoon
dried red chile flakes
Salt and freshly ground black
Salt and freshly ground black
In a large mixing bowl, place the cheddar cheese in an even
layer. Scatter the cream cheese, peppers, mayonnaise, and chile flakes over the
cheddar cheese. Using a spatula, mix the pimiento cheese until it is smooth and
spreadable, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Transfer the pimiento cheese to a plastic container or bowl, cover
tightly, and store in the refrigerator. Pimiento cheese keeps in the
refrigerator for 1 week.
Another
favorite pimiento cheese is Tupelo Honey Café’s Pimento Cheese. Try it!
For more tasty southern recipes from the Lee Brothers, I recommend this cookbook:
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4 comments:
Smoked cheese makes it so good!
My love of pimento cheese started in the late 1970s when a lady from a church we attended made it for a meeting. My only acquaintance with it up till then was pimento cheese was from the little jar, and that isn't the real thing (made with cream cheese!) I begged her for the recipe (I still have her hand-written one) and it included salsa in place of the pimentos. Talk about eating with a spoon - I was hooked. Like you I try as many recipes as I can find, including heated ones, and I love them all. It has been a long time since I made any, and your recipe moves to the top of the "must try" stack!
I am licking my lips. I never knew people MADE homemade pimento cheese until after I was married. And then it was with Velvetta which is NOT real cheese in my book... I can't wait to give these recipes a try.
:) gwingal
I am back to let you know that I am featuring your recipe post on next weeks OVER THE MOON LINK PARTY which goes live on Sunday Apr 29 at 5 pm central. Please stop by and link up again!
:) gwingal
I've had storebought pimento cheese once and thought it was pretty good. However, I bet it doesn't hold a candle to this recipe. Thank you for sharing with us at Celebrate Your Story and have a great weekend.
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