Pimento Cheese Pie from NYTimes

[marilynfl]

Ya. Okay. I'll admit it...I haven't tried this recipe and some teeny, tiny part of me still doesn't want to do it. But my mind lives in a world where cheese was off the menu for decades. Not because of religious or medical reasons, but because authoritative loved ones told me constantly that I was overweight and cheese (along with all my other favorite foods) would only make it worse.

I have since jettisoned those thoughts, along with any hope of ever fitting into Size 12 pants again. Possibly Size 14 too.

So I am no longer feel threatened by the idea of PIMENTO (??) CHEESE (yes!) PIE (yet another forbidden taste from my youth. I didn't truly enjoy crust until I was 55). Now I just have to get past my first experience of buying Pimento Cheese. I live in western North Carolina where one ENTIRE refrigerator section is dedicated to pimento cheese. It's like standing in the lingerie department and trying to find the ONE bra that fits out of hundreds (to any guys reading this...consider yourself lucky). Looking over the refrigerator shelves was like viewing a Pantone color strip: pale orange, yellowish orange, cadmium orange, just a hint of vermillion orange. I guess color depends on the type of cheddar and the amount of mayo added. Also, food additives, preservatives and unknown foreign substances (this was North Carolina and they believe in using ALL parts of ALL things.)

So I did what I normally do in situations like this and turned to a total stranger for help. Some kind North Carolina person recommended Mrs. Someone or Other's Pimento Cheese spread. I don't remember the name because when I got home and opened the container, I didn't have the heart to even taste it. It looked--and I'm going to be VERY INDELICATE here--like vomit.

But, also, because I'm cheap, I wasn't about to throw it out, so I made Mac N Cheese and gave the entire dish to the neighbors, warning them ahead of time that it had pimento cheese in it and that it was lumpy. They were ecstatic, saying they loved pimento cheese.

Which brings me to the fact that I still haven't really embraced pimento cheese.
I'm hoping this recipe will change that.

Pimento Cheese Pie Recipe

Savory and spicy pimento cheese is folded and baked into the most buttery pie dough around Inspired by a beloved pimento cheese hand pie, this slab pie is made for a crowd and will become a fast favorite for parties In the spirit of celebration, this dish is wholly about collaboration and...

cooking.nytimes.com

 

[marilynfl]

Also, after reading the comments, several people asked if you could just use puff pastry or filo dough. Other commenters had tried this hack and weren't satisfied.

 

[charley2]

I do think puff pastry would work very well. If you read her pie crust recipe it is a laminate. AND this is a snack.
Marilyn, make your own pimento cheese--so easy and so good.
Roast a red pepper. Chop it and use about 1/4 cup. Use some white cheddar, good sharp yellow cheddar and cream cheese. Good mayo like Duke's but not so much that it overpowers the cheese, splash of sriracha and worcestershire.
But for store bought look for Palmetto pimento cheese--it's in Costco and Food Lion. It is the closest to homemade you'll ever get in the opinion of people who treasure and LOVE pimento cheese.
A really good appy is baguette slice, smear of bacon jam and pimento cheese run under the broiler.
Or pimento cheese stuffed pickled okra.
A sandwich is always good and you can grill it also.

 

[gayr]

Marilyn, I came across this by pure accident and thought of you immediately, hence have a look

Basic Pimiento Cheese

We found that, apart from the fundamental ingredients (cheese, pimientos, and mayo), the best pimiento cheese is the one you grew up eating. Enjoy this basic pimiento cheese recipe with crackers, vegetables, or toast points.

www.southernliving.com

 

[mariadnoca]

To show how different California is, I looked for pimento cheese at Safeway, which is our largest grocery store chain in northern California. They had none. The slightly more upscale chain of Raleys, had one, but it was the kraft brand. Walmart had two kinds.

 

[charley2]

Marilyn, I came across this by pure accident and thought of you immediately, hence have a look

Basic Pimiento Cheese

We found that, apart from the fundamental ingredients (cheese, pimientos, and mayo), the best pimiento cheese is the one you grew up eating. Enjoy this basic pimiento cheese recipe with crackers, vegetables, or toast points.

www.southernliving.com

This is basically the great southern summer treat of a tomato pie made with pimento cheese--which is fine. But I would make the pie by her amounts because commercial pimento cheese has a lot more mayo.
Tomato pies are basically tomatoes, topped with a topping of cheese and mayo.
Many of the newer brands of pimento cheese have jalapeno or bacon additions these days. Good stuff.

 

[music-city-missy]

To show how different California is, I looked for pimento cheese at Safeway, which is our largest grocery store chain in northern California. They had none. The slightly more upscale chain of Raleys, had one, but it was the kraft brand. Walmart had two kinds.

If it was the shelf stable little juice jars of Kraft pimento cheese, that is NOT pimento cheese! LOL We southerners only use that stuff for making cheese straws and it does make mighty fine cheese straws. LOL

 

[mariadnoca]

If it was the shelf stable little juice jars of Kraft pimento cheese, that is NOT pimento cheese! LOL We southerners only use that stuff for making cheese straws and it does make mighty fine cheese straws. LOL

It was! And that meant to me it certainly wasn’t the real thing, lol!

 

[music-city-missy]

I do think puff pastry would work very well. If you read her pie crust recipe it is a laminate. AND this is a snack.
Marilyn, make your own pimento cheese--so easy and so good.
Roast a red pepper. Chop it and use about 1/4 cup. Use some white cheddar, good sharp yellow cheddar and cream cheese. Good mayo like Duke's but not so much that it overpowers the cheese, splash of sriracha and worcestershire.
But for store bought look for Palmetto pimento cheese--it's in Costco and Food Lion. It is the closest to homemade you'll ever get in the opinion of people who treasure and LOVE pimento cheese.
A really good appy is baguette slice, smear of bacon jam and pimento cheese run under the broiler.
Or pimento cheese stuffed pickled okra.
A sandwich is always good and you can grill it also.

Lisa is a great local pastry chef and every recipe of both her's and Ashley's I have ever tried have been great! Her dough is somewhat similar to Nick Malgerie's rough (or was it call quick?) puff pastry dough. But Lisa's crust recipe is very good so try it.

The way I learned to make pimento and cheese is to mix well drained pimentos, a little finely grated onion (you want it to basically be almost just an onion juice), a dash of Worcestershire, a dash of your favorite hot sauce (Franks or Louisiana are the best IMHO), and a little of your mayonnaise together to make it easy to get all the flavors distributed without overmixing. The mayonnaise has to be Blue Plate (what this MS girl grew up on) or Duke's but whatever you do, DO NOT use Miracle Whip. Add that to fresh, coarsely grated cheddar - your choice of what kind. You can use pepper jack cheese for all or part of the cheddar. Gently mix it all together and don't overmix it because you want the cheese to stay in shreds and not become a homogenous mess. Add additional mayonnaise as needed but just add a little at a time because you really just want enough to barely hold it together, even sort of crumbly.

I am known for making an appetizer - start baguette sliced like you would for bruschetta, brush with mixture of melted butter mixed with olive oil and bake until lightly browned on both sides. Top with a dollop of pimento cheese and broil until bubbly and just starting to brown a little. Garnish with a slice of jalapeno or candied jalapeno or a piece of bacon or even candied bacon if desired. Kristen didn't like anything with mayonnaise until these and she fell in love with pimento cheese and now she keeps it on hand to put on and in things, everything!

When I helped Jane and Michael Stern do their Road Food tour in Nashville many moons ago, we went to Henpeck Market and EVERYONE - I think all 50-something people, raved about their pimento cheese and it still ranks as probably the best pimento cheese I have ever had and the thing they do differently is that it has a lot of fairly coarsely ground black pepper. Also, they made grilled pimento cheese sandwiches with or without sliced tomato and/or bacon - very good!

Some distant cousins just opened a southern restaurant near us and their pimento cheese is also killer and again - barely enough mayonnaise to hold it together. I call and just get an order of it with their housemade chips which are wonton/eggroll wrappers I think but SO good with the pimento cheese. I want to try their sandwich on their housemade sourdough but it's so good with the chips that I chicken out everytime and just get my regular. The only pimento cheese type spread I have ever had that was actually delicious was by Phickles out of Athens, GA. Angie used to make these incredible spreads which were basically pimento cheese but well-blended and creamy and had other seasonings. Angie has been dealing with a divorce and auto-immune issues and is trying to get her Phickles Pickles back up and going but while she could ship the pickles, she couldn't ship the spreads so I never got enough of it. So maybe I can talk her out of her Hot Mess and Southern Charm spread recipes.

Palmetto brand and Callie's (of Callie's biscuits) are both good ready-made brands. Costco dropped Palmetto for a while after the owner, who at the time was the mayor of Pawley's Island called BLM a terrorist organization and I boycotted it also. So they had Callie's for a while but have gone back to Palmetto. Duke's was and may still be the contract vendor for producing it so it has Duke's in it.

 

[charley2]

GREAT rundown!! I also like coarse black pepper in mine and go back and forth about cream cheese--but do prefer roasted red pepper. The little glasses thing dates from 'way back to even my childhood--and those glasses (juice size) are collector's items now!!
I thought of Jane and Michael Stern the other day. We saw them on stage once talking about their touring and adventures and it was absolutely hilarious.
The pie dough did sound delicious but it also made me know that this would not work with ordinary pie dough.

 

[lana-in-fl]

The way I learned to make pimento and cheese is to mix well drained pimentos, a little finely grated onion (you want it to basically be almost just an onion juice), a dash of Worcestershire, a dash of your favorite hot sauce (Franks or Louisiana are the best IMHO), and a little of your mayonnaise together to make it easy to get all the flavors distributed without overmixing. The mayonnaise has to be Blue Plate (what this MS girl grew up on) or Duke's but whatever you do, DO NOT use Miracle Whip. Add that to fresh, coarsely grated cheddar - your choice of what kind. You can use pepper jack cheese for all or part of the cheddar. Gently mix it all together and don't overmix it because you want the cheese to stay in shreds and not become a homogenous mess. Add additional mayonnaise as needed but just add a little at a time because you really just want enough to barely hold it together, even sort of crumbly.

I am known for making an appetizer - start baguette sliced like you would for bruschetta, brush with mixture of melted butter mixed with olive oil and bake until lightly browned on both sides. Top with a dollop of pimento cheese and broil until bubbly and just starting to brown a little. Garnish with a slice of jalapeno or candied jalapeno or a piece of bacon or even candied bacon if desired. Kristen didn't like anything with mayonnaise until these and she fell in love with pimento cheese and now she keeps it on hand to put on and in things, everything!

That appetizer sounds great, and so simple - thank you!

 

[music-city-missy]

That appetizer sounds great, and so simple - thank you!

When my uncle's wife was in the hospital here, she would beg for those and I took them up there. We laughed because she lost her hearing aid on the ambulance ride up from MS. One night I made them with the Le Brea Bakery baguette instead of the frozen Le Petit Francais baguettes from Costco so they were much crunchier and she was just going at them and my uncle started laughing at how loud she was and that she couldn't hear herself. That was the last home-cooked meal she ever had. She had a rare disease that took her life at age 56 a few weeks later. So these hold a special memory.

 

[lana-in-fl]

I am known for making an appetizer - start baguette sliced like you would for bruschetta, brush with mixture of melted butter mixed with olive oil and bake until lightly browned on both sides. Top with a dollop of pimento cheese and broil until bubbly and just starting to brown a little. Garnish with a slice of jalapeno or candied jalapeno or a piece of bacon or even candied bacon if desired. Kristen didn't like anything with mayonnaise until these and she fell in love with pimento cheese and now she keeps it on hand to put on and in things, everything!

MCM, I tried your appetizer this evening, just for the family as we grilled outside. It is excellent! DD and DH do NOT like pimento cheese, and they came back for seconds and thirds. Thank you!