Monday, September 24, 2007

Pimiento cheese for lunch



Is pimiento cheese primarily a Southern food? There must be some reason why many of my children turn up their noses at it - they must have inherited Steve's Northern food-preference genes. Philistines!

Mom's recipe for pimiento chese is the best I've ever eaten. It's quick, easy, and tasty.

Pimiento Cheese:

about 2 cups grated sharp cheddar (or extra sharp) cheese

about 1 to 2 T. pimiento bits (or use roasted red peppers from a jar and dice them into little bits)

about 1 to 1 1/2 T. grated onion, along with the juice from the grating process

enough mayonnaise to moisten and bind ingredients, but not so much that it overpowers.

Serve with bread or crackers.

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17 Comments:

Blogger Dana in Georgia said...

Pimento cheese is a favorite of mine. I delight in introducing it to non-Southerners (aka Yankees).

Because it is so highly caloric, I only indulge myself on vaction or family reunions.

Your recipe sounds good....I press a clove of garlic into mine, and love the grated onion.

Subject change: I have a cousin who gradutated from Auburn around 1975. Were you there then?

1:45 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

I am *from* Auburn - grew up there, and then I went to school *at* Auburn University beginning in 1978 and graduated in 1981. Depending on where your cousin went to church, and if he/she was in Campus Crusade, or worked at the student union building, or st War Eagle Cafeteria, I *might* have known him/her before I started at Auburn.

1:53 PM  
Blogger Dana in Georgia said...

Back checking in, esp after I noticed your mention of Frank Barker on Donna's website.

While I dont know him personally and havent ever attended Briarwood, I have family who does.

Guess that fits for the South.

Do you go to Briarwood?

The cousin I mentioned is/was from B'ham, as is my father, who's sister lived in Auburn for many years. Her husband was an Auburn professor (engineering), Louis Trucks.

Small world, huh?

4:22 PM  
Blogger Donna Boucher said...

Oh yum!!!

Hey...it's fun to see you two getting to know one another :o)

4:39 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Donna, you're so funny! When Dana and I finally get together for lunch (we're going to *have* to, you know) we'll take a picture for you!

The name "Trucks' isn't familiar, but I'll ask my dad if he remembers.

No to Briarwood, but my aunt and two cousins are members there. We're about 80 miles away - too far for church. However, we do drive 25 miles to church in Auburn!

5:49 PM  
Blogger Dy said...

This is a pre-existing RECIPE?!?!? Gah. While us cavemen have been leaping about with excitement b/c just a few months ago, Zorak nailed the recipe by trial and error! Pfffttt. And I could have just asked you. ;-) (Although it's nice to know we got it right. Does that earn us Naturalization points?)

Yum!

Dy

10:27 PM  
Blogger Dana in Georgia said...

Looked it up....my aunt's funeral was held at Auburn's First Baptist Church. just fyi :)

None of her daughters live in Auburn now tho' :(

6:46 AM  
Blogger Tracy Batchelder said...

I never liked pimento cheese when I was a kid, but as an adult I love it. My roots are in the south.

My husband is not a fan of it though. The cheese part, he likes. He's from Vermont after all--dairy country. But, the mayonnaise is what kills it for him.

It's one of those combinations you either like or can't stand.

8:42 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Dy - you're a Southerner. Moving to Nowhere, AL, and buying a "forever home" definitely makes you bona fide.

Dana, I'll ask my dad today about your family.

Tracy, I didn't like pimiento cheese as a kid either, and it was because of the mayonnaise. But my tastes have changed!

10:30 AM  
Blogger Anne said...

I just don't "get" pimento cheese, but my dad has always loved it. Apparently my grandmother's was some of the best, but I wouldn't know.

I definitely think it's a southern thing because I've never come across it anywhere outside of the south. Thank goodness! ;-)

12:07 PM  
Blogger Anne said...

By the way, I like all the ingredients in pimento cheese, but I think it's a texture thing.

12:08 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

"...because I've never come across it anywhere outside of the south. Thank goodness! ;-)"

Anne, you're so funny!

12:25 PM  
Blogger Jan said...

I love pimento cheese. My dad bought it all the time, from the store. Unfortunately, it isn't on my diet plan. It is the singular food that reminds me of him.

9:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Being from North Carolina I grew up eating "pimenter" cheese. I have not had it in years. The secret is Duke's mayo. All other mayo are commies and not real "ninner" cheese.

Meg told me about this so I had to check it out.

--Dan

3:42 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Well, Dan, I agree that Duke's Mayonnaise is good (after all, we can get it from the Piggly Wiggly), but I beg to differ that it is the telling ingredient. Bama Mayonnaise works just as well, and I *have* used Hellman's with success.

Have Meg make you some pimenter cheese.

6:25 PM  
Blogger MamaGeph said...

Yum!!

I'm going to make this...

6:11 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Good! Let me know if you like it or not!

6:47 PM  

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