Pimento Cheese

So, I’ve never done a blog before. I don’t really read them either, but I know I love food, and have been told that when I write about food, I do a fairly decent job of making others salivate as they read the brain child of my culinary ponderings. For all I know, this could be the only post I ever make. I am good at being inconsistent and unreliable when it comes to the written word, but here I go anyway.

Today, I made Pimento Cheese. Now, I’m a California gal, and given that Pimento Cheese is primarily a southern thang, I had never even tasted the stuff until I found a jar of the KRAFT kind sitting in my parents’ fridge a couple weeks ago. I had read about it in books, and heard others sing its praises. I was unimpressed, but intrigued. Last night I saw Tyler Florence rave on TV about the best Pimento Cheese he ever ate, and today my mom brought some pimentos and cream cheese home from the market. My dad is from Texas, and that’s how his mom used to make it.

Being my screwball self when it comes to playing in the kitchen, I knew this needed to go further than pimentos and cream cheese, so I began experimenting… a little sharp cheddar, some paprika, cayenne for a kick… garlic powder, mayo, sugar, onion… the concoction kept growing. Interesting coincidence that Gina and Pat Neely were whippin’ some up on the food network. My food experiment was destiny, I guess.

Smothered on fluffy sourdough, the sharp cheddar gives a punch to the taste buds, the mellow pimentos and onions round out the flavors, and (as mentioned above) the cayenne gives a final kick. Pretty tasty indeed.