Greetings fellow culinary enthusiasts! At the suggestion from the Dolphin editor, I will begin a new gastronomy adventure by working through a Community Service Club cookbook that was published nearly twenty years ago. The goal is to bring back some tried and true recipes and to give recognition to some of POC’s great home cooks and noted members of this fine community. I will try to keep the integrity of the recipe as it was originally written and add some additional ideas to include new trends in techniques, products and taste.
Pimiento Cheese
This recipe was submitted by Jo Nelson. You will need one pound of coarsely grated cheese, a four ounce jar of drained, grated pimientos, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of Heinz apple cider vinegar and Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise. The recipe calls for Kraft half-moon mild. I prefer Tillamook medium cheddar which wasn’t around twenty years ago, but I am sure Jo and I would agree that the cheese should be freshly grated since packaged, grated cheese includes anticaking agents.
To simplify things, I added the pimientos, sugar and vinegar to a mini food processor and hit “grind” a couple times for a quick mix. Jo wrote separate steps for mixing but she may not have had a mini food processor. I also took the liberty of adding one teaspoon of chipotle sauce and let the mixture set a few minutes for good measure. Add the mixture to four heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and mix.
Jo’s recipe calls for Hellman’s which is delicious, but you might want to use Hellman’s new no cholesterol option. Now, stir in the grated cheese. You might chill in refrigerator before serving.
Adjust the mayonnaise content for desired consistency or amount of chipotle for an increased smoky, spicy flavor. I heard that melted pimiento cheese tastes great on a grilled burger but I haven’t tried it yet because it hasn’t really been “grilling” weather.
Jo did add a note to the end of the recipe that reads, “Any change in brands or procedure will affect taste”. This makes me think that maybe I should not have messed with perfection.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new take on the column. It is only meant to honor and compliment the home cooks that generously submitted their recipes to the Community Service Club cookbook so many years ago. Enjoy!
