Southern food is definitely in it’s own category. The people who fiercely preserve these time-honored recipes are also in a category of their own. I get away saying this since the hubby is from the South. Almost undetectable, my hubby’s North Carolina drawl is worn down from years in the service. But his love of Southern foods is alive and snacking!
The folks over at It’s a Southern Thing created this curious food chart. It reminds me of those Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs charts from college. You know the one where the most important necessities are on the bottom of the pyramid.
According to this Southern Food Pyramid, BBQ is of utmost importance. My carnivorous hubby completely agrees. We gluttonously testament to his almost weekly, smoked-meat sessions. What about the sweet tea way up on top? Yep! Don’t ask for iced tea in a Southern restaurant expecting unsweetened. One gulp will have your insulin screaming! And DO. NOT. MESS. WITH. MAW-MAW’S BANANA PUDDING RECIPE! I found this out after making it many times, with outright disdain. I simply refuse to make banana pudding anymore! But! One tasty item is sorely lacking here. Pimento cheese spread!
Pimento cheese?! Huh? What’s a pimento?! If you’re from way-out-west like me, this cheese with pimento stuff might leave you scratching your head. I know I did! Pimentos are a variety of cherry peppers. Round, redder, and not as spicy as their slender green cousins, jalapenos. Prior to eating them with cheese, my only exposure to pimentos were those red-things stuffed in fancy green olives. The same ones left staring out from fancy jars on a kitchen counter; or piled up on a crudite platter at a holiday spread.
Curious enough, though, Pimento Cheese didn’t start out as a Southern food staple. Hmmm…maybe that’s why the folks at It’s a Southern Thing snubbed it from the pyramid above. IDK! Cue the 1985 Pace Thick and Chunky salsa commercial…”This stuff’s made in New York City. New York City? Get a rope!” Yep. New York. Pimento cheese’s start. Huh?
Grab the Time-Turner gadget from Harry Potter fame, and spin us back to the 1870’s in New York. According to Serious Eats, dairy farmers in the Big Apple state started making an American Neufchâtel, after the French version. Around the same time, Spanish sweet peppers, called pimiento, started showing up. 1870’s foodies were all a gush for the new canned sweet peppers (now pimento…loose the second ‘i’) and America’s copycat version of a fancy French soft cheese. Put the two together and high society was stuffing everything with this creamy concoction and serving it throughout New York City’s swankiest establishments.
Like any tasty combination, demand for this peppery cheese spread went up. Way up! In 1908, Good Housekeeping ran a recipe using creamed cheese, mustard, chives and pimentos. Two years later, pimento cheese spread mania moved from New York to South Carolina, to New Mexico and Oregon. And without the help of social media! Ever since, pimentos are grown in the U.S. and pimento cheese spread recipes are highly coveted. The hubby says leave it up to the South to make Northern pimento cheese right! Yeesh…
My recipe? Sorry. It’s not handed down from a sweet, silver-haired, petite granny. It’s not copy-catted from my sassy, stubborn, Southern mother-in-law. Nope. I tweaked it from Kate over at Cookie & Kate. Her original recipe is here. It’s really good too!
Another food item missing from the pyramid above is spicy heat. The guys in this house love hot foods. Son A tries to impress us with his youthful ignorance when it comes to slathering on spicy sauces. You name the pepper, we’ve suffered through a few…habanero, ghost pepper, scorpion, and Carolina Reaper. You can see how often we eat this stuff after cracking open the plastic, protective wrapping. LOL!
With this in mind, my Not-So-Southern Style Pimento Cheese Spread is kicky. In addition to the usual culinary suspects (cream cheese, shredded cheddar, pimento, and mayo), I’ve jalapeno’ed up our family’s version using finely-diced fresh jalapeno and ground chipotle pepper. Ultimately, the amount of heat is completely subjective. Add more, add less. Don’t add. It’s completely up to your internal Scoville Scale.
When making Not-So-Southern Pimento Cheese Spread, use freshly shredded extra-sharp cheddar if possible. The pre-shredded cheese found in grocery stores is coated with cellulose, a form of wood pulp. Wood?! In cheese?! Yes… It’s a natural moisture inhibitor, which makes that one bag of cheese last for.ev.er. Trust me, there are a couple in my freezer!
Either way, Not-So-Southern Style Pimento Cheese Spread makes a tasty dip, with crackers, pretzels or chips. It’s delightful sandwiched between white bread (wheat or GF too!), grilled or not-grilled, or on a big ol’-biscuit like my Bodacious Baking Powder Biscuits. With this latest batch, Son A enjoyed a scoop of this savory spread on a grilled burger!
Not-So-Southern Pimento Cheese Spread
OMG! Easy to make and even easier to eat! Enjoy as a dip with buttery crackers, use as sandwich spread or in grilled cheese, or slather between a warm biscuit for a breakfast treat.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: About 3 Cups 1x
Ingredients
2–1/2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (About 1–8 oz. block)
1–8 oz. block cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
4 oz. diced pimento peppers, well-drained*
1–1/2 tbsp. diced jalapeno pepper** (About 1 large jalapeno)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle pepper**
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Using a hand-held beater or standing mixer, blend ingredients until well combined. Serve immediately as a dip with crackers or a sandwich spread. Refrigerate for up to one week. If using later, bring to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Freshly shredded cheddar cheese is best. Pre-grated cheese is coated with cellulose (wood pulp) to prevent moisture from forming. The texture of your finished Pimento Cheese won’t be as creamy.
*Sliced pimento peppers can be diced.
**Adjust as necessary depending on your heat tolerance.
IMNPB
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