Pimento Cheese
Ingredients:
1 pound of Sharp Cheddar cheese, Grated (do not use pre shredded cheese)
½ Cup Duke's Mayonnaise
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 4 oz. Jar of Pimentos, drained (reserve about 1 Tablespoon of the liquid)
Directions:
Grate your cheese by hand or using a food processor
Put about ¼ of your cheese, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and pimento juice into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. (If you don’t have a food processor, leave the cheese out of this mixture and you may need some extra mayo.
Add the blended mixture, pimentos, and remaining cheese to a bowl and stir until well combined. If it seems dry, add a bit more mayonnaise.
Pimento cheese and I have a long history. I was probably in my teens before I realized that it was something that people actually purchased pre-made. When I was growing up, Mima always made pimento cheese and we would have sandwiches that were toasted in a very old sandwich press that I swear made the best sandwich ever. It looked like it was going to fall apart any second, but it toasted sandwiches perfectly. When I was growing up, we didn’t eat grilled cheese, we ate grilled pimento cheese. And I loved it!. The picture below looks a lot like Mima’s sandwich press.
We also had pimento cheese at Christmas. She would make little finger sandwiches with the crust cut off and cut into triangles. (we also had cream cheese and olive sandwiches that were sooooo good)The finger sandwiches were almost a completely different food than the toasted sandwiches, but definitely good in their own right. I learned most of what I know about cooking at home from my Mima. Going to Mima and Grandaddy’s house, I knew I must have driven her crazy sometimes being right under her arm making things with her. (Especially since I probably was taller than her from the time I was in third grade. She was only 5 feet 2 inches) I wanted to know everything she cooked. I also think this triggered my current passion which is figuring out family recipes for others. So if you have a family recipe that you can’t figure out how to make, send it over and I’ll be happy to help if I can. I’ve even figured out some recipes that I didn’t have recipes for by listening to descriptions, but I digress.
I think Pimento Cheese is one of those things that either you love or hate, but this recipe might change some minds for those that haven’t liked it in the past. Most people do not add spices and such but it makes a huge difference. To be honest, Mima didn’t add those either. They were an addition in my later life when I realized that garlic and onions make everything better. And when you use garlic and onion powder, you don’t have the chunks that some find offensive. You just get the flavor. I will say that most store bought pimento cheese is too expensive and is mostly filler, so I don’t usually purchase it unless it is made in a deli on site.
There are lots of good ways to eat pimento cheese:
On a sandwich toasted
As finger sandwiches (crust MUST be cut off cuz we fancy)
With crackers as an appetizer
As a cheese ball at a party (coat with roasted pecans or walnuts and replace half of the mayo with cream cheese)
On fried cornbread and toasted
We make fried cornbread by mixing cornmeal, water and a bit of salt and pan frying. We discovered the toasted open face sandwich method and it is sooooo good. I hope to have a corn bread video out soon.
With a spoon (cuz sometimes you just gotta have a cheese snack.
Comment below with your ideas for how to eat pimento cheese and also if you decide to try making it yourself.