Southern Pimiento Cheese Food

SOUTHERN PIMIENTO CHEESE RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Stir again and add more mayonnaise if needed, as cheese will absorb mayonnaise during refrigeration. Add salt, pepper or cayenne if desired.

SOUTHERN PIMENTO CHEESE

Steps:

• Place the Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder, minced jalapeno, and pimento into the large bowl of a mixer. Beat at medium speed, with paddle if possible, until thoroughly combined. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

SOUTHERN PIMENTO CHEESE BURGERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• To prepare Pimento Cheese, in a medium mixing bowl, combine Cheddar and Jack cheeses, mayonnaise, cream cheese, pimento peppers, pickle juice, horseradish sauce, and mustard; mix until well combined.
• To prepare Honey Slaw, in a small mixing bowl combine mayonnaise, honey, and cabbage; mix until well combined.
• Heat a 12-inch nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until the bacon is crispy, about 5 minutes, flipping once. Drain on paper towels. Pour off almost all of the bacon fat from the pan, leaving a very thin layer.
• To make the patties, combine the beef, country ham, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and form into patties to fit the buns.
• Using the same grill pan as before, cook the hamburgers over medium-high heat for 3 minutes per side or until cooked medium rare.
• Meanwhile, place buns on a rack in the oven. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes. Also, place the plates that the burgers will be served on in the oven to heat.
• To assemble the burgers, spread a generous amount of Pimento Cheese on the cut sides of the buns. On each bun bottom (on top of the Pimento Cheese), place a thin layer of Honey Slaw. Top the slaw with a burger patty, 2 slices of bacon, and crushed potato chips. Add the bun tops. Place the completed hamburgers on a nonstick baking sheet and bake in the oven for 1 minute. Serve burgers on warm plates.

SOUTHERN PIMENTO CHEESE FROM HAROLD COHEN'S ULTIMATE BURGER

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, combine Cheddar and Jack cheeses, mayonnaise, cream cheese, pimento peppers, pickle juice, horseradish sauce, and mustard; mix until well combined.
• Store in refrigerator until needed; it can be frozen. Bring to room temperature for serving for best taste and easy melting on hamburgers.

PIMENTO CHEESE, AUTHENTIC SOUTHERN STYLE

Steps:

• Rough cut all blocks of cheese into chunks about the size of a 50 cent piece.
• In your food processor with the regular blade, chop the extra sharp cheddar. You may have to do this in batches so you don't get a big lump. Return any removed cheese to the processing bowl and add a couple dollops of mayo and one jar of very well drained pimentos and whir up until blended nicely.
• Scrape the sharp cheddar, mayonnaise and pimento mixture into a large bowl.
• Change your blade to the shredding blade. Shred both the Colby and the sharp cheddar in batches. Put in a separate bowl. (Again, batches will be necessary.).
• Add the shredded cheese to the whirred up cheese folding it in a little at a time. Alternating with dollops of mayo and more of the drained pimentos. Lastly, stir in a smidge of cayenne. You don't want it to be hot, just have personality.
• Don't over stir to mush, but make sure everything is well incorporated.
• Some notes:.
• **Yes, one could use Hellman's instead. But please, no Miracle Whip. Also, no low fat or light mayo. Your already eating a ton of cheese, that light mayo won't help you any.
• **Serve on very fresh white bread or Ritz Crackers if you are feeling fancy or are serving company. One piece of bread folded in half will transport you home, I'm sure. Yes, you could use anything else you like. It's great by the finger full, on hot dogs, hamburgers and crudités too.).
• **If you can't find the chopped pimentos. Go ahead and buy the fancy jarred red bell peppers, drain them well and chop / shred them in the food processor. They are the same thing, just more expensive.
• **This stays good in the refrigerator for up to a month. (If it lasts that long.) Even with mayo? Yes -- How long do you keep your mayonnaise jar in the fridge? Ya'll will know when it's gone bad; the green furry stuff will take over. If it has just a little though, you can scrape it off and its fine. (Now the Food Safety people may disagree with me here, but it never killed any of us, so it's up to you.)
• **This makes four (4) 16oz Ball jelly jars. Enough to keep and some to share.
• **Please, for the love of God above -- don't buy pre-shredded cheese. It is too expensive and has extra ingredients in it that keep the shreds separate. 1 cup by volume of shredded cheese is not the same as 8oz of weight. You could go ALLLLL authentic and grate by hand with a box grater and work off some of the calories you'll eat when tasting for perfection. It's tough though. Please, beg, borrow or all but steal to get a food processor for this one.
• **The mix of cheeses is as similar as you can get to the old government cheese from which this recipe was initially invented. We were just fortunate enough not to be on the list for those 10lb blocks of cheese, but one would find this mixture very similar.
• ** There is no cream cheese in this recipe. You get the creaminess from the way you process the extra sharp cheddar.
• **Fancy cheese is not necessary. Get generic, it's perfectly fine.
• **If you've ever had the kind in the jar and hated it, no worries. This is totally different. That other stuff is chemical in a jar.
• **Please, enjoy with your choice of a Mason jar of sweet tea, some very sweet red Kool-Aid or fruit punch Fla-Vor-Aid! I hope if your familar that it take you back. If it's new to you -- it can be a new tradition. It's like grilled cheese without the grill.
• Lip Smack -- ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!