Put A Little South in Your Mouth

I’ve tried most everything in the food world, at least in the United States and Mexico. Everything except offal, which I think is simply awful. And I refuse to even try it. For reasons we won’t divulge here, but I am happy to discuss this with you any time in person.

David recently shared with me that he had never had homemade pimento cheese.

“What? Are you kidding me?” I snap. “That’s impossible.” Though, in reality, it’s not impossible since he’s not from Texas or anywhere near the south, nor is he a “lady who lunches.”

“Wow,” I say. “We’ve got to fix that. And quick.”

That was several weeks ago, so when the new issue of Saveur arrived in our mailbox the other day, David and I started talking about this very special issue dedicated to sandwiches, one of his favorite edibles.

If he had it his way, he would have a breakfast sandwich (aka egg-on-a-roll), a hamburger for lunch and another sandwich for dinner. And he would love it if he got to have a hot dog for a snack somewhere during the course of the day.

We’re perusing the magazine and there it was. A pimento cheese sandwich. And I instantly remember that I haven’t made this for him yet. Because I am a woman of my word, we rush to the store to buy sharp cheddar cheese and a jar of pimentos and then hurried home to make good on my promise.

As I was making pimento cheese, I was transported to my grandmother’s kitchen. She made me countless sandwiches including pimento cheese, cucumber, egg salad, tuna salad and many others. All homemade and all amazing, so I find it implausible that he’s never even tried pimento cheese in all of his years on this planet.

Rather than inculcate him with the standard pimento cheese sammy, I went rogue and decided to make a grilled pimento cheese with a slice of tomato. Alternatively, you could make a traditional pimento cheese sandwich or stuff a few stalks of celery with this good stuff.

Buen provecho!

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Pimento Cheese

Who doesn't love pimento cheese? It's not something we should eat every day, but for special occasions, absolutely. This reminds me of my grandmother and that is always a welcome experience. Spread it on celery, slather it between bread or get crazy and make a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. Your grandmother would approve.

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword pimento cheese, snack, southern

Author The Cowgirl Gourmet loosely adapted this recipe from the April 2011 issue of the Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese the one and only orange cheddar, grated
• 1/2 cup mayo homemade mayo if you have it
• 3 tablespoons chopped pimentos and a little of the juice
• 2 tablespoons onion grated
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. To make things easier, I just grated the cheese in the food processor. In less than a minute, I had an entire pound of beautifully grated cheese.
   
2. Dump the grated cheese into a big bowl and add the remaining ingredients.
   
3. Stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. You may need to add a little more mayo to make it spreadable. Let it sit covered in the fridge for an hour and allow the flavors to marry.
   
4. Spread on white bread, crackers, tortilla chips or slather on celery stalks. Or live life on the edge and make a grilled pimento cheese sammy.
   
5. Refrigerate any leftovers.