Pimento Cheese

Pimento Cheese

I made it the same night I made the almond-topped peaches. I started with the *Pioneer Woman’s recipe, and made some changes based on my tastes.

How does it taste?

First, let me put up my ingredient list:

Pimento Cheese

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup full fat mayonnaise

2 cups grated / 16 ounces (not from the bag, you grate it) cheese. I like sharp cheddar

4 ounces diced pimentos, drained
Chopped garlic to taste

Garlic salt to taste (I have low blood pressure so I salt everything)

Black pepper to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Blend in food processor using quick bursts until consistency of your choice. I like smooth but slightly chunky.

This is what it looked like before I put it in the refrigerator to chill over.

How is it? In a word? YUCK.

So what went fundamentally wrong with my pimento cheese?

I added ½ tsp of smoked paprika from Trader Joe’s. I tasted it. I couldn’t taste the smoked paprika. I added another ½ teaspoon, tasted again. Much better. Put it into a plastic bowl with a lid and popped it into the fridge before going to bed.

Once it sits and the flavors combine? The paprika took over the whole taste of the dish. I can’t taste the cheese, the salt, the pepper, the pimentos, nothing. Just the paprika.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I’m thinking of making a fresh batch and adding the paprika batch in doses to use it up. I hate to waste food—that just chaps my hide.

So yes, there will be a next time—I really like pimento cheese—and it’s an awesome high protein/fat meal or snack for DSers.

How do you make your pimento cheese?

*I’ve been reading the Pioneer Woman since 2007. I’ve made a few of her recipes and most of them don’t work for me. I’ve had more failures than successes. One cannot, however, deny her brilliant marketing and the success she has achieved for her and her family. For that I applaud her. I also realize that everything on her blog needs to be taken with a pound of salt. I’m neither a fan nor a hater—I’m indifferent.