Pimento cheese...what's your best recipe?
While living in Texas as a teenager, pimento cheese on white bread at the downtown drug store was my go-to lunch. Haven't eaten it in years but now hankering this comfort food all of a sudden. Saw a recipe which included shredded sharp cheddar, roasted red peppers & of course Hellmann's---mix lightly & let hang-out in the fridge for flavors to mingle & meld...sounds good:) What's your best pimento cheese recipe? Since we are also talking healthy & less calorie dense foods...any "light" pimento cheese recipes are also welcome!
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19 Comments:
Shredded sharp, some shredded pepper jack, pimientos (of course), cream cheese all into the food processor... jalapenos straight into there is nice, too.
jrtipton at 8:20PM on 01/02/08
The Homesick Texan has a recipe here.
(all the way at the bottom)
HTH.
AdamH at 9:31PM on 01/02/08
Let's try that link again:
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
AdamH at 9:45PM on 01/02/08
mayo, pimentos, cheddar cheese, salt, lots of pepper and the secret ingredient...pickle juice.
This is the version my grandfather made who worked at a drugstore in Texas in the late 1930's.
amakat at 1:25AM on 01/03/08
Shredded cheddar, pimentos [sic], Hellman's and a bit of grated onion. it's also good going half cheddar, half gruyere (though heretical)
Lilla at 8:08AM on 01/03/08
I like to add a little kick to homemade pimiento cheese. Sometimes it's a little bit of chopped garlic. Sometimes a wee bit of chopped chipotle peppers. Or a dash or two of Tabasco. It's all good.
Library Lady at 10:41AM on 01/03/08
Ooh. Pimiento cheese, pizza and cauliflower. This is the best day on SE in a long time. You guys are making me drool all over my keyboard! :)
My two cents on pimiento cheese: don't even bother buying the crap from the grocery store, unless it's been freshly made at the deli (which is rare). The prepackaged, processed stuff is too disgusting for words.
sheeats at 4:45PM on 01/03/08
What do with pimento cheese besides the standard sandwich? Spread on burgers, stuff celery, scoop onto a toasted bagette?
JEP at 6:34PM on 01/03/08
Mayo (homemade of course), grated, aged, quality sharp cheddar, salt, pepper, chopped pimientos, squeeze of lemon juice and grated onion. It's the best damn thing on a slice of pumpernickel toast that you'll ever eat!
eatnutmeg at 11:13PM on 01/03/08
a teaspoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar.
Rae at 11:50AM on 01/04/08
I tried the recipe from Frank Stitt's Southern Table. It was my first ever pimento cheese. What I recall is that it used sharp cheddar, roasted red peppers, cream cheese, mayo, and hot pepper sauce. I only keep Cholula at my house, and I used plenty of that.
But it made far more than I needed, so JEP, I ended up converting it into a broccoli cheese soup with a little roux, tiny bit of onion and some veggie stock. That was pretty good, too.
renzata at 12:21PM on 01/04/08
If you're looking for a "light" recipe, here's mine:
3/4 c of Hellmann's light mayonnaise
2 c of Kraft or Cracker Barrell's 2% Shredded Cheddar
1/4 jar of roasted red peppers, minced
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
Couple Grinds of Black Pepper
Pinch of Salt
Place all your ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
spicedyankee at 9:08AM on 03/04/08
hmmm, I have to add this pretty close to my failures with potato salad. I've been spoiled with the most fabulous pimento cheese that I get when I go back to North Carolina to visit my family, jalapeño pimento cheese from a store called The Fresh Market. No matter how many times I try with various concoctions, I am unable to produce such culinary perfection as Fresh Market.
I hate them for it! *counts the number of days until I go back down to NC for my fix... *13 days, 13 very long days. :(
Southern_bella at 9:16AM on 03/04/08
Childhood memories of Texas summer and lunches of my Mom's pimiento cheese. She would call all of us kids, of which there where 4, on to the back porch and hand us paper napkins with this lucious cheese spread between slices of white bread We would sit on the steps placing eat bite carefully in our mouths so not to loose on single bite! The following is the recipe I found in her handwritting in her cookbook fly leaf.
1 pound Red Rind LongHorn cheddar cheese grated by hand with box grater
1 4 oz jar pimientos drained well
1 teaspoon finely minced sweet onion
1 clove finely minced fresh garlic
1 grated dill pickle (Best Maid)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2- 3/4 cup mayonniase (Hellmanns)
Mix all ingredients by hand until spreadable. Chill for 2 hours and serve.
I am sure this is an old recipe as Mom is now 80 and I have crossed the midnite hour.:(
CodysMom at 3:02PM on 01/01/09
@CodysMom...Thanks for sharing your recipe...pimento cheese, haven't thought of it since a year ago...good recipe to start the new year :)
JEP at 4:48PM on 01/01/09
My recipe comes from "Hoppin' John's" book. He is a South Carolina chef - we visit there in the Folly Beach area every year and I bought the cook book - it is even better because no one up here in Canada has ever heard of pimento cheese - I am asked to bring it everywhere, always to rave reviews - my recipe includes the sharp cheese, pimento (I make my own roasted red pepper and freeze it in the Fall) & juice, a tablespoon of grated onion and addition of cayenne to taste - Hoppin' John uses his own homemade mayo but I often just use a good quality store bought mayo. It is soooo good!
bareneed at 5:41PM on 01/01/09
I should add to my thread that the book I bought is, "Hoppin' John's Low Country Cooking," by John Taylor. I let the mixture sit overnight for best results. I use a silver food grater to mince my onion (it almost looks like a tablespoon of juice!) I should also add that I LOVE that book, the forward is by Pat Conroy, and John Taylor has obviously collected family and historical recipes that reference back to the mid 1700's. It holds a place of honour amongst my cook book collection.
bareneed at 6:48PM on 01/01/09
I happen to like mine with some minced peppadews mixed in. I love the tangy sweet-hot bite they add to the mix.
dhorst at 6:51PM on 01/01/09
i remember reading a wonderful piece in gourmet by james villas some years ago about his mother's pimiento cheese. i believe he referred to the kind you buy in the grocery store as congealed insecticide.
cybercita at 9:25PM on 01/01/09