About a month ago I had an out-of -the-blue craving for a pimento cheese sandwich, had not had one in years. And no, it was not because of the pimento cheese sandwich scene on Better Call Saul, which now goes along side the chicken salad sandwich scene with Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces as one the great sandwich scenes on film (are there others? ) Now I am having one for lunch a couple of times a week.
Sometimes just pimento on plain white bread, sometimes with tomato if I have one. Might try grilled. Might try making my own -
I would love a frickin’ pimento cheese sandwich. I used to buy “the right kind” at Winn Dixie, but sometimes I’d try to buy it elsewhere and wind up with that sweet “party spread” shit. I’m not sure how to tell the difference from the label but man, the taste is worlds apart.
In case you want to try making it, here’s what I do. I do all this in a food processor, but you could do it pretty easily by hand:
-Mince a clove or two of garlic. Add some cumin, some cayenne, and some paprika (smoked and regular).
-Shred some sharp cheddar. Maybe 8 oz worth.
-Add a hunk, maybe 2 oz or so, of cream cheese.
-Add an enormous spoonful of mayo, maybe like 3 Tbsp worth.
-Add the tiny jar of pimentos.
It takes about 5 minutes. Warmed up, it’s flippin incredible.
Edit: oh dang, I didn’t even see the recipe in the OP, because I’m ridiculous. That looks mighty fine.
That’s a complicated recipe… ours is usually shredded sharp cheddar cheese, Duke’s mayonnaise and chopped pimentos, all done to taste and stirred by hand.
And yeah, it’s more of a cracker thing than a sandwich thing.
Interesting. I used to love pimento-cheese sandwiches as a kid, but I believe I was eating the “party spread” stuff. It was pink, smooth, and came in a little glass jar you could use as a juice glass after you were done.
Is that what you are referring to, or is that something else entirely?
Palmetto cheese is good. I got some because it was on sale, and the other pimento cheese at Food Lion is sad and gloppy. Try some pimento cheese with crispy bacon on a biscuit.
What we got (in the late 70s/early 80s) was always in a plastic tub and was more peach and cottage-cheese texture than pink and smooth. I hated it, growing up, and it wasn’t until I had something kinda like the recipe I described that I realized pimento cheese could be delicious.
The plastic tub stuff is pretty mild in flavor, tastes mostly of mayonnaise with a hint of pickled pepper. If you make it with garlic and sharp cheddar and cayenne and smoked paprika, the flavors are obv gonna be a lot stronger, which is what I prefer.
Yeah, I think I may have bought the “cottage cheese texture” stuff you describe just once when I was looking for my childhood spread, as I have a vague recollection of buying something one time, opening it up and going, “What?!? No, this isn’t it!” It sounds pretty dreadful.
On the other hand, your method and the AllRecipes version both sound fabulous.
The little jars are made by Kraft. I have pimiento cheese and Old English in the pantry. They are mass-produced, homogenized and not worthy of being called pimiento cheese. I still eat the stuff, though. But there is a container of the home-made stuff in the fridge. My secret ingredient is a splash of pickle brine. And about double the cayenne.
Hah! I’m sure I’m not the only poster who has said in response to reading a recipe on this board, “Wow, sounds delicious, I’m going to make that very soon” – and then, despite initial enthusiasm and good intentions, does not do it.
Well, I resolved to make the Allrecipes pimento cheese after I read this thread, and I had a trip to the grocery store today where I could pick up ingredients, soooooo…I MADE IT.
And damn, it is goooood. My only significant change was that I whirred it in the Cuisinart for a less chunky texture; my result is fairly smooth as that’s what I wanted.
For me, the first step in making pimento cheese is to go out to the garden, pick some bright red pimentos, and flame roast them with a blowtorch. Right now I have three or four quarts of fire-roasted pimentos, since the garden is pretty much played out for the season!
I like it best on crackers or stuffed into celery. I like the crunch. A friend served me some open-faced sprinkled with green onion on some crusty, chewy baguette, which was very good, too.
I’m going to make more of the Allrecipes version for a dinner I’m cooking on Thursday - it’s actually going to be a dinner of mezzos, with ME and Greek items like baba ghanouj, hummus, and tzatziki. But even though it is American, it fits right in. (Having lived in Egypt, I feel confident in saying that the Egyptians I knew would have loved the stuff.)
After years of not having a good pimiento cheese (the recipes I’ve tried have not lived up to my childhood memories!), the local Winco finally started carrying Price’s pimiento cheese, and it’s exactly what I remember from my childhood. It leans to the sweeter side, which I know some don’t prefer (let’s not get into the cupcakes vs. muffins argument), but I’m currently going through 3 tubs a week, making up for 40+ years without it
