Cook the Book: Pimento Cheese
Working in a restaurant means that the majority of my meals are solo affairs eaten during nontraditional mealtimes. I usually have a very big late lunch just before my shift starts, and then some sort of late-night snacking comprises my dinner. My "dinner" has a few requirements: It must be fairly easy to put together and not make too much noise. My downstairs neighbor and sleeping fiancé don't take too kindly to clanging pots and pans at 1 a.m. For this reason my late-night dinners tend to lean heavily on the bread-plus-cheese combo.
Pimento cheese is one of my favorite things to come home to after a long night of work. I didn't grow up with pimento cheese, but there is something comforting about it nonetheless. This recipe comes from Patrick McFarlin, the author Deborah Madison's husband and the illustrator of What We Eat When We Eat Alone. McFarlin's mother used to make pimento cheese by putting American cheese, Miracle Whip, and pimentos through a meat grinder. Madison updates this Southern classic with the addition of jarred Spanish peppers and smoked paprika. Pimento cheese tastes good on just about anything: Spread it on bread, crackers, or crudités.
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Pimento Cheese
- makes about 1 cup -
Adapted from What We Eat When We Are Alone by Deborah Madison.
Ingredients
8 ounces aged Cheddar cheese, yellow, or white and yellow mixed
1/3 cup diced Spanish peppers or 1 (4-ounce) jar of pimentos
2 tablespoons mayonnaise, more or less
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon sweet or hot smoked paprika
Freshly ground pepper-lots
1 sliced scallion
Procedure
Grate the cheese on the coarse holes of a grater or run it through a meat grinder if you still have one. Stir in the peppers, mayonnaise, mustard, and paprika, tasting and adjusting as you go. Finally season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and add the scallion.
Related
Jalpeño-Pimento Cheese Burger
Hamburger America: Northgate Soda Shop in Greenville, South Carolina
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7 Comments:
A tall stack of pancakes smothered in maple syrup and butter.
crumbles at 1:49PM on 08/18/09
I love the direction in the recipe to use a meat grinder "if you still have one." We used to have meat grinders, before we had food processors. I still have one but it's been in the cellar for 20 years and I'm quite sure it has rusted beyond use and maybe beyond recognition.
lemonfair at 1:54PM on 08/18/09
Even though I'm not the biggest mayo fan I do like some pimento cheese. My dad made some the other day with a dab of blue cheese in it. It was HEAVEN!
earinjury at 2:10PM on 08/18/09
A giant mound of kale sauteed with garlic, served along side a single cold tofu pup.
Runningwithbeaters at 2:31PM on 08/18/09
Lately, I fill up a plastic cup with milk, stack a bunch of Chocolate Chip Dunkers from Trader Joe's on a plate, and eat until my heart is contented with soggy milk-infused elongated cookies.
girlfrommars at 2:50PM on 08/18/09
@lemonfair—I was about to comment on the "if you still have one" too! Of course we've all had a meat grinder at one point in our lives; whether or not we kept it is the only question!
Tactful_Cactus at 4:40PM on 08/18/09
Ours has miracle whip.. which is the only things i like it in.. but whatever. grill it up.
seikel at 5:16PM on 08/18/09