How can I replicate this that is full of deliciousness?

April 23, 2007 8:11 PM

In need of a mayonnaise-free pimento cheese recipe. Bizarre requirements follow and a knowledge of the spread and its incarnations requested.

Today, I had the best pimento cheese I've ever had in my life. It was a sharp yellow cheddar/sharp white cheddar mix, with perhaps a little bleu cheese, few pimentos, and no mayonnaise, but maybe a type of oil. The restaurant won't give me specifications.

I grew up with the classic refrigerated cheddar-mayo-pimento mashup, but I'm interested in something with a little more taste and a chunkier/less-gloppy texture, where I taste the different cheeses and not so much the mayo.

I've seen some recipes mentioning evaporated milk, condensed milk, sugar, vinegar, cream cheese, dill pickles, and all sorts of other ingredients, but I'm weary without someone to guide me through such.

I am open to adding more peppers, extra spices, or turning up the heat. Thank you!

posted by sara is disenchanted to food & drink (12 comments total)

You could probably go with a very bland cream cheese.

And, I beg you, it's 'blue cheese'. Or 'fromage bleu'. 'Bleu cheese' is meaningless.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:06 PM on April 23, 2007

I wonder if you've tried using home-made mayonnaise?

No comparison, tastewise, to Hellmann's etc.

This page has a recipe for both the mayo and the pimento cheese. (via Wikipedia)
posted by YamwotIam at 9:42 PM on April 23, 2007

There was a recipe for something along those lines in the Globe & Mail not long ago.

They now want C$4.95 for the article. More's the pity, the clipping has since escaped from my fridge magnets.

I wondered about it at the time, and Googled; it was called "southern caviar" in the paper, but "southern caviar" recipes on-line didn't match up at all.

I used old or extra-old (I don't know what the US equivalent of "extra-old" is -- "extra-sharp"?) cheddar and cream cheese when I made it, and I think pinches of sour cream and mayonnaise; just enough to make it somewhat smooth, more the consistency of cream cheese rather than cream cheese with cheddar. All thrown in a food processor. (No pimentos on hand at the time; I used, er, hot sauce.) You couldn't taste the mayo/sour cream.

Try half cheddar and half cream cheese with enough mayo/sour cream to make it blendable and spreadable. Add a bit at a time. If you can't get it right, it might be worth the $5. The recipe did not have blue cheese (I'm with dirtynumbangelboy on that "bleu cheese" abomination, something I've never seen in Canada, but on menus aplenty in the US), but adding a pinch to get the flavour just so doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.
posted by kmennie at 9:57 PM on April 23, 2007

Extra-super-duper sharp cheddar, jalapenos (if you like, and I do), pimentos, splash red wine vinegar, a splash of pickle juice, a hard-boiled egg, pinch of onion salt, pepper to taste.

That's my grandmother's pimento cheese recipe, and no, I'm not giving out the proportions.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:03 PM on April 23, 2007

I forgot olive oil. And whip it like it owes you money.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:08 PM on April 23, 2007

Sorry sorry sorry. If the mods would kindly change my atrocious misspelling of the blue cheese, I would be very happy.

Thank you for the suggestions so far! I will try them out, and check in again.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 3:17 AM on April 24, 2007

kmennie: "Texas caviar" (the term used more frequently than "Southern") involves black-eyed peas, not pimento cheese. Recipe here.

Nothing better than a grilled pimento cheese sandwich... yum.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:41 AM on April 24, 2007

kmennie: "Texas caviar" (the term used more frequently than "Southern") involves black-eyed peas, not pimento cheese.

Don't tell me -- tell the Globe & Mail!
posted by kmennie at 3:43 AM on April 24, 2007

I think a dash of truffle oil would make pimento cheese full of awesomeness.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 6:32 AM on April 24, 2007

If anyone's interested in the Globe and Mail recipe that kmennie mentioned, here it is:

Southern Caviar

Chef Ben Randow at the splendid Sanctuary Hotel and Spa on Kiawah Island near Charleston, S.C., is a young Southerner who cooks exquisite Southern food. This popular cheese spread will last two weeks refrigerated. Known as Southern caviar, every household has its own version.

125 grams deli-style cream cheese

250 grams grated old cheddar cheese

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon sambal oelek, or Asian hot chili sauce

¼ cup chopped green onions

½ cup chopped roasted red peppers

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pinch cayenne

Place cream cheese, cheddar, mayonnaise and sambal oelek in a food processor and process until well combined. Stir in green onions, peppers and seasonings. Spoon into a crock and cover. Serves 6.
posted by veronica sawyer at 8:44 AM on April 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, thank you, veronica sawyer!

And, hmm. I left out the roasted peppers. I used only a token amount of green onions and thought them a poor addition. "Sambal oelek" said to me "I am perhaps trying too hard to update an old recipe," which may be why it stuck in my brain as a pimento thing. I think if I really did use any sour cream, it was just a wee bit added in fear of an overly mayonnaisey result.

All that fiddling aside, it's a good recipe...
posted by kmennie at 10:12 AM on April 24, 2007

That recipe does sound good. I'm just up the road from Charleston and have never heard the "Southern caviar" term used in this context. Go figure!
posted by Sweetie Darling at 11:55 AM on April 24, 2007