Thanksgiving Breakfast: Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, Grilled.
One with egg, one without.
What is Pimento Cheese? It is a Southern US staple. You can buy it in the cold case at anytime. Homemade is obviously better. My recipe has been given high marks by my Southern co-workers. I adapted it from other recipes online, and find that the #1 ingredient should be CHEESE. Quality dips as the cheese ratio shrinks.
Roasted, and packed in oil, pimentos make up a crucial ingredient. Without them this would fail as yummy. You need that spike of flavor to break-up the fat. Dijon mustard adds a hint of, “OH, this is good.” One of the other crucial ingredients is mayonnaise. We’re in the US, and this is the South, so mayo will make an appearance.
I was informed by one of my co-workers, who is very picky as far as pimento cheese is concerned, that you can screw this dish up. Seems nearly impossible, but from what I understand it is too much pimento that kills the goodness, or too much mayo, and not enough cheese.
Now, as far as the cheese part of pimento cheese goes, you can play pretty fast and loose. I made two different kinds for a work party. In one I had extra sharp cheddar, a smidge of monteray Jack, and enough smoked cheddar to know it was there. In the other it was nearly all New York style white cheddar, gouda, and smoked gouda are killer, but hard cheese like Parmesan should be accents, and not the main event. Cheddar is the most popular cheese for pimento cheese. Mainly you need a slicing cheese that will hold it’s shape after shredding.
I suggest this recipe as a base for main ingredient ratios. Take a look at other recipes to find out about spicing, and cheese options.
