New Recipe: Louis Osteen's Pimiento Cheese

I knew nothing of pimiento cheese before my move south. And even then I kept away from it for years because...well, it just didn't sound good. My first taste of pimiento cheese came by way of a sandwich from The Square Rabbit and I was hooked. And since they are located in downtown Raleigh and I happen to work in downtown Raleigh...I have enjoyed many a yummy lunch from there! And after Husband informed me that he had never had homemade pimiento cheese, I had to bring him home the good stuff (which they sell by the 1/2 or whole pint). He reminds me every so often that I can bring some home any time.

So, having planted southern roots (ish) I have subscribed to Southern Living - which is usually a rather depressing magazine. More depressing than Martha Stewart Living. They're both like "Hey, look at how pretty your house could be and how yummy your meals could be if you'd stop being lazy!" But anyway, one issue of Southern Living came that made the whole subscription worth it. It was loaded with a bunch of pimiento cheese recipes! So I decided to try this one over the weekend.

Here's what you need:

Mix up everything in an electric mixer EXCEPT the pimientos:

Mix until blended but not smooth. Then add the pimientos:

Then mix in the pimientos until the mixture is blended and somewhat smooth.

Then smear it on top of anything edible and enjoy!

Louis Osteen's Pimiento Cheese

• 6 cups freshly grated sharp Cheddar cheese (1 1/2 lb.)
• 1/2 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon grated yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (7 oz.) jar whole peeled pimiento, drained and cut into fourths

Garnish: freshly ground pepper, if desired

Directions:

Beat Cheddar cheese, cream cheese, mayonnaise, yellow onion, and ground red pepper with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer at medium speed 1 to 2 minutes or until blended but not smooth. Add pimiento; beat 1 to 2 minutes or until pimiento is shredded and mixture is blended and somewhat smooth. Garnish, if desired.

Recipe Source: Southern Living Magazine

Notes/Suggestions:

• I only used a 1/2 teaspoon of the ground red pepper and then added another little sprinkle. That was more than enough "kick" for me and even Husband agreed that it had an over-all strong flavor. I would maybe cut back some on the onion next time too.
• Instead of the 7 oz. jar of whole peeled pimiento, I used a 4 oz. jar of diced pimientos. I blame that on my decision to "skim" the directions instead of reading them thoroughly before heading into the store. But what I bought ended up working out great and seemed like enough pimiento in my cheese.
• This recipe makes a LOT. Be prepared to eat pimiento cheese for days. Which, in our house, will never be a problem.
• Grant didn't like it. But he did like that he was in the kitchen while I was grating the cheese. He kept gesturing wildy saying "sheese? sheese? SHEESE!" until I hacked off a chunk and gave it to him. He is so his mother's son :)

Enjoy!